Bryan Drake

[2] Born in Dunedin,[2] Drake sang in the choir of the local St Paul's cathedral,[1] and was educated at Otago Boys' High School.

[1] He made his opera debut in 1948 as Escamillo in Bizet's Carmen,[3] in a production originally staged as part of the Otago Centennial, which then toured around the country.

During that time he created the roles of Donald, in the 1951 world premiere of Britten's Billy Budd, and Watchful in Vaughan Williams's The Pilgrim's Progress.

He also appeared in BBC television productions of Peter Grimes (as Balstrode) and Billy Budd (as Flint, a role he also recorded for Decca under the composer's baton).

[3] His final performance was in 1999, when he played the Voice of God in a production of Britten's Noye's Fludde in Aldeburgh parish church.