Dalis, Irene
Dalis, Irene
Dalis, Irene , American mezzo-soprano, teacher, and operatic administrator; b. San Jose, Calif., Oct. 8, 1925. She studied at San Jose State Univ. (A.B., 1946; M.S., 1957) and at Columbia Univ. Teachers Coll. (M.A., 1947); received vocal training from Edyth Walker (1947–50) and Paul Althouse (1950–51) in N.Y., and from Otto Müller (1952) in Milan. In 1953 she made her operatic debut as Eboli in Don Carlo at the Oldenburg Landestheater; sang with the Städtische Oper in Berlin (1955–60). On March 16, 1957, she made her Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. as Eboli, and continued to sing there regularly until 1977. She also made guest appearances at Covent Garden in London, the Chicago Lyric Opera, and the Bayreuth Festivals. In 1976 she became a prof. of music at San Jose State Univ.; she also directed its opera workshop, which served as the nucleus for the fully professional Opera San Jose, with Dalis as executive director (1984–88) and artistic director (from 1988).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire