Vroons, Frans (actually,Franciscus)

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Vroons, Frans (actually,Franciscus)

Vroons, Frans (actually, Franciscus ), Dutch tenor; b. Amsterdam, April 28, 1911; d. ’s-Hertogen-bosch, June 1,1983. He studied in Amsterdam and Paris. He made his operatic debut as Pelléas in 1937, and in 1945 he became the principal tenor at the Netherlands Opera in Amsterdam, where he sang for two decades; he was also its co-director (1956-71). In 1948 Vroons made his first appearance at London’s Covent Garden as Don José and in 1951 he appeared in San Francisco as Massenet’s Des Grieux. He taught voice in Amsterdam (from 1971). His other roles included Florestan, Tamino, Hoffmann, and Peter Grimes.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire

Baker’s Biographical Dictionary of Musicians