Millennium Magazine_6th Ed

34 Millennium - A Marquis Who’s Who Magazine F rom the military to engineering and singing, Richard Fredricks was never afraid to take on a new chapter of his life, and with his courage, he became an internationally renowned baritone singer for operas, symphonies and more. An engineering student of El Camino Junior College from 1954 to 1956 and a student on a voice scholarship at the University of Denver from 1956 to 1957, Mr. Fredricks previously served in the U.S. Marines and Navy from 1950 to 1954. After serving as a lab engineer for the AiResearch Manufacturing Company in 1955, Mr. Fredrick focused on spearheading his singing career and became a teacher of voice and master classes. He gave a master class at The Juilliard School and was offered the teaching position left by Giorgio Tozzi and Dr. Polisi. He turned it down, however, due to professional conflicts. Notably, from 1960 to 1981, Mr. Fredricks was a principal baritone with the New York City Opera. He has also sang with the San Francisco Opera and Metropolitan Opera, with lead roles in “Rigoletto,” “La Forza del Destino,” “La Gioconda,” “Trovatore” “Il Barbiere di Siviglia,” “Il Puritani” and “Un Ballo in Maschera,” among others. Mr. Fredricks also sang the National Anthem twice for the graduation at Annapolis for the Chief of Naval Operations and 11 performances in the Hollywood Bowl with Johnny Green. In his symphonic career, Mr. Fredricks has been with the Boston Pops, New York Philharmonic and L.A. Philharmonic. Internationally, he has appeared with the Santiago Opera, Israel Philharmonic, Hamburg Staatsoper, Frankfurt Staatsoper and La Fenice. In pop culture, Mr. Fredricks has starred on television in “The Odd Couple,” “Quincey,” “The Tonight Show,” “The Merv Griffin Show,” “The Mike Douglas Show” and “The Dinah Shore Show.” When he first auditioned to be a singer, Mr. Fredricks was compared to Robert Merrill, and he eventually had the opportunity to meet him. He is a member of Bohemian of San Francisco, Lotos and Players of New York. More information about Mr. Fredericks can be found at www.richardfredricks.com . RICHARD FREDRICKS PRINCIPAL BARITONE, MUSIC AND VOICE TEACHER Los Angeles, CA ARTS, MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT