Jeffrey Black

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Jeffrey Black (born 6 September 1962) is an Australian baritone with an international singing career that began in the early 1980s. He has often performed with Opera Australia and the Glyndebourne Festival Opera, and he has appeared at the Metropolitan Opera, Opéra Bastille, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Bavarian State Opera, and the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, among others. He is especially known for his portrayals of Guglielmo in Così fan tutte, Count Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro, and Figaro in The Barber of Seville.

Born in Brisbane, Black attended the Anglican Church Grammar School and sang as a boy soprano in the choir at St Stephen’s Cathedral. He studied at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, earning a Bachelor of Music in 1983. After winning the Marianne Mathy Scholarship in the Australian Singing Competition in 1983, he trained at the National Opera Studio in London in 1984, and later received the Armstrong-Martin Scholarship in 1985. He also studied with Audrey Langford and Jane Chapman in London.

Black began his professional career as a concert singer and joined Opera Australia in 1984 for a concert at the Sydney Opera House, then made his operatic debut there in 1985 as Mercutio in Roméo et Juliette. He went on to sing many roles for Opera Australia, including Nevers in Les Huguenots and Nerone and Ottone in L’incoronazione di Poppea. He built an international career with appearances at Glyndebourne, Covent Garden, the Los Angeles Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the Met, where he made his debut in 1995 as Figaro in The Barber of Seville. His repertoire spans Mozart to Verdi and Puccini, and he has performed with many leading companies worldwide. Outside of performing, Black supports diabetes fundraising, inspired by his son who has the condition.