Music
Ara Berberian
1930–2005 · operatic bass, actor
Detroit-born Armenian American bass who sang 334 performances at the Metropolitan Opera; a nature preserve in Southfield is named for him.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan- Died
aged 74- Detroit years
- 1930–1940s
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Berberian was born in Detroit in 1930 to Armenian parents. He was a star pitcher at Culver Military Academy in Indiana, then earned an economics degree and a law degree at the University of Michigan while singing in student operas and musicals. He left law school for a season of minor league baseball, practiced law for a year and, after his Army service in the U.S. Army Chorus, moved to New York in 1958 to sing. He rose from the chorus of New York City Opera to solo roles in 1963, spent 1965–1968 with the San Francisco Opera, where he debuted as Bartók's Bluebeard, and from 1979 to 1997 gave 334 performances at the Metropolitan Opera. He sang more than 100 roles, including Osmin and Sparafucile, and appeared with Michigan Opera Theatre at home. A gift of woodland to the City of Southfield created the Berberian Woods Nature Preserve in his honor.
Highlights
- 334 performances at the Metropolitan Opera, 1979–1997
- Debuted at San Francisco Opera as Bartók's Bluebeard (1965)
- Sang more than 100 roles in opera, oratorio and musicals
- Berberian Woods Nature Preserve in Southfield named for him
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Memorial
Berberian Woods Nature Preserve
Wooded land donated to the City of Southfield through the Oakland Land Conservancy and named in his honor.