Gary Burgess was born in Bermuda in 1938. In 1963 he earned a degree from the Julliard School of Music. He subsequently earned his masters at Indiana University in Bloomington in 1971 and attended the Curtis Institute of Music and later the Academia di Santa Cecelia (1965) receiving the Artist Diplomas in Opera. In 1969 he made his debut in the Kentucky Opera as Male Chorus in Britten’s The rape of Lucretia. Gary Burgess made his American debut as a tenor in 1973 with the San Francisco Opera Company singing seven roles in the same season, in productions including Die Zaubeflöte, L’Incornazione di Poppea, La Boheme, EleKtra, Pique Dame and Boris Godunov. Debuts followed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Philadelphia Opera and many other companies in the United States. He worked with famous artists, orchestras and theatres. In 1973 he also made his European debut with the Greek National Opera, singing the leading tenor roles in Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress (1974/75, 1977/78)., the Rape of Lucretia and Ariadne auf Naxos (1973/74, 1974/75). Gary’s repertoire included at least 45 major operatic roles, over thirty major oratorios as well as vocal cycles. Through the years he has been the recipient of many awards in Europe and in the United States. He was the founder and Artistic Director of the Greater Buffalo Opera Company, staging and directing more than forty (40) operas. He has been a master teacher at the University of Buffalo for more than 20 years, as well as in Bratislava, Prague, Sao Paulo, Ottawa, and other major universities across the United States. Notable students he has worked with include the world famous sopranos Renée Fleming and Laura Aikin. He died in Bermuda on 27/6/2014.