User:Nousernamesleft/sandbox

Marjorie Thomas (1923? – 12 September 2008) was an English opera and oratorio singer.

Biography
After World War II, Thomas' warm mezzo-soprano voice was heard in opera and concerts in England for more than two decades. Early in her career, she sang with the Hallé Orchestra under John Barbirolli. She often performed in George Frideric Handel's Messiah, which she recorded with Thomas Beecham in 1947. She also was known for performances of Johann Sebastian Bach's Christmas Oratorio and for the roles of Flosshilde in Das Rheingold and Götterdämmerung and Rossweisse in Die Walküre from Wagner's ring cycle. Benjamin Britten wrote Hermia in A Midsummer Night's Dream for her in 1960, and William Walton wrote his Gloria for her in 1961. She also recorded a well-received complete Brahms Liebeslieder Waltzes, Opp. 52 & 65, with Elsie Morison, Richard Lewis and Donald Bell, accompanied by Vitya Vronsky and Victor Babin.

Thomas was admired for her performances as Angel in The Dream of Gerontius and in Felix Mendelssohn's Elijah, both of which she recorded with Sir Malcolm Sargent. With Sargent she also recorded a series of Gilbert and Sullivan roles: Pitti-Sing in The Mikado (1957); Tessa in The Gondoliers (1957); Phoebe in The Yeomen of the Guard (1958); Cousin Hebe in H.M.S. Pinafore (1958); the title role in Iolanthe (1959); Kate in The Pirates of Penzance (1961); and Lady Angela in Patience (1963). She also appeared in the 1953 film The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan.

Thomas later was head of vocal studies at London's Royal Academy of Music and taught singing for many years.