Ken Neate was born in
Cessnock, New South Wales on 28 July 1914. He studied piano and voice in
Newcastle and had further study in
Sydney with
Lute Drummond and Lionello Cecil. Neate joined the
New South Wales Police Force, serving in inner-city stations in Sydney. He became a soloist in the NSW Police Choir and soon became known as "The Singing Policeman". He sang his first operatic roles as Pinkerton in
Madama Butterfly in Brisbane in 1937 and the title role in a concert performance of
Lohengrin with the
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Joseph Post.), 1960, 1968 and 1970 (that year as Florestan in
Fidelio In Italy in the mid-1950s, he had a major career in the houses of
San Carlo (Naples),
La Fenice (Venice),
Parma and
Bologna, in roles such as Faust, Calaf (
Turandot) and
Don Carlo, and appearing with such major names as
Tullio Serafin,
Carlo Tagliabue,
Cesare Siepi,
Ettore Bastianini,
Gigliola Frazzoni,
Antonietta Stella and
Ebe Stignani. Ken Neate died in
Munich, Germany on 27 June 1997. His book
Great singing: Common Sense in Singing was completed at his death, and was published in 2001 by his widow. His maternal cousin was the tenor
Jon Weaving. ==References==