Kenneth McKellar 1927 - 2010

Kenneth McKellar, the internationally revered Scottish tenor, has died after a very short illness in Lake Tahoe, at the home of his daughter, Jane.

Born in Paisley in 1927, Kenneth graduated from Aberdeen University with a BSc in Forestry before studying at the Royal College of Music in London. A long association with Decca produced definitive recordings of Scots songs, and his interpretations of the songs of Robert Burns have never been equaled.

In the early sixties Kenneth was the tenor soloist in Decca's recording of Handel’s Messiah, Dame Joan Sutherland, his fellow student at the Royal College of Music, being the soprano That recording, together with others of some of the most famous Handel arias, moved Sir Adrian Boult, the great conductor, to describe Kenneth as 'the finest Handelian tenor of his generation'. His singing seemed effortless and concealed the huge talent which made it so.

He toured the world taking a breath of Scotland to homesick exiles everywhere. He appeared in musicals and took the leading role as 'Jamie' in some of most lavishly and best acclaimed theatrical extravaganzas ever seen in Scotland. His regular BBC TV series and his radio broadcasts at peak times attracted a huge following.

Those who knew him best remember a man of great humour, a man who could not bear pretentiousness and who, although not one to suffer fools gladly, was totally without conceit.

The untimely death of his beloved wife, Hedy, in 1990, left a huge gap in his life but he was a loving father to his daughter Jane and son Kenneth, brother to James and he adored his grandchildren.

No-one is irreplaceable but it is unlikely that there will ever be another Kenneth McKellar.

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