Vinson Cole Vinson Cole Vinson Cole (born November 21, 1950) is an American operatic tenor. A native of Kansas City, the tenor studied at the University of Missouri, Kansas City; the Philadelphia Musical Academy; and at the Curtis Institute of Music with Margaret Harshaw. He made his European debut in Angers, France in Handel's "Acis and Galatea" and followed that with the role of Belmonte in Mozart's "Abduction from the Seraglio" with the Welsh National Opera. In 1977, his youthful promise was recognized when he won the Metropolitan Opera Auditions, the WGN Competition, and was awarded both Rockefeller Foundation and National Opera
Michael Langdon to his teacher's amazement. He excelled at the less academic school he attended. He disliked school and was pleased to leave. He sang in "The Midsummer Marriage", "Gloriana", "The Olympians", "Billy Budd", "A Midsummer Night's Dream", "Don Carlos", "Arabella", "Der Rosenkavalier", "Don Pasquale" and "The Abduction from the Seraglio", among others. He was principal bass at the Royal Opera House from 1951 and sang in most of the great opera houses of the world, most often in the role of Baron Ochs in "Der Rosenkavalier" during the 1960s and 1970s. His voice has been described as 'basso profundo'. He could