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Leslie George Holmes (also known in England as Laurence Holmes, sometimes spelled Lawrence Holmes), baritone, teacher (born 30 April 1901 at Lesser Slave Lake, Alberta; died 24 February 1983 in Worthing, West Sussex, England).
Education and Early Years
Leslie was the son of the bishop of Moosonee, Ontario. He studied singing in Toronto with Albert Ham at the Canadian Academy of Music and in London, England, with Harry Plunkett Greene at the Royal College of Music. He also studied in France and Germany.
Holmes made his reputation as an oratorio and recital singer in England and was renowned for his interpretation of the Christus in the St. Matthew Passion. To avoid confusion with the English variety entertainer of the same name performing as part of the duo The Two Leslies, Holmes adopted the stage name Lawrence Holmes ( while in England.
On visits to eastern Canada, he gave recitals in 1930, 1931, and 1933 and was a soloist with the Montreal Orchestra and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
Career Highlights
After World War II, Leslie Holmes returned to Canada to teach at the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM; known then as the Toronto Conservatory of Music). On 11 June 1946, he sang the Christus in a performance of the St. Matthew Passion conducted by Sir Ernest MacMillan for the Montreal Festivals.
He went back to England, teaching at London’s Royal Academy of Music from 1947 to 1954, and was made an honorary member of that institution. Holmes moved back to Canada in 1954 to teach again at the RCM (known after 1947 as the Royal Conservatory of Music of Toronto) and gave recitals in Toronto in 1954, 1955, and 1958.
In addition to oratorio roles Holmes' repertoire included the song cycles of Schubert, Schumann, and Brahms, and a large selection of French, English, and Italian songs. Augustus Bridle, in a review (Toronto Daily Star, 17 June 1946) of a recital which featured Schumann's Dichterliebe, Opus 48, remarked that “no Canadian quite ever equalled this sincere exposition of a song cycle”; and after a later recital John Kraglund (Globe and Mail, Toronto, 22 October 1954) noted his “easy presentation, his air of relaxation and considerable, intelligent artistry.”
Prominent among Holmes' Canadian pupils were James Milligan, Jan Simons, and Harry Mossfield. Holmes retired from the RCM in 1959 and returned to England.
