John M. McCollum (February 21, 1922 – October 30, 2015) was an American tenor who had an active singing career in operas , concerts, and recitals during the 1950s through the 1970s. As an opera singer he performed with companies throughout North America, mostly working with second tier opera houses . He was much more successful as a singer of oratorios and other works from the concert repertoire, and enjoyed a particularly productive and lengthy relationship with the Boston Symphony Orchestra . As a concert singer he sang a wide repertoire but drew particular acclaim for his performances in the works of Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel .
37-667: Born in Coalinga, California , McCollum first worked as a journalist and magazine publisher before deciding to pursue a singing career. He began studying voice with Mynard Jones in Oakland, California and then moved to New York City in the early 1950s where he became a pupil of Edgar Schofield . He also studied at the Tanglewood Music Center under Boris Goldovsky . McCollum made his first concert appearance in New York City as
74-733: A concert soloist and performed with some frequency in operas with the New England Opera Theatre (NEOT). He sang frequently with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under conductor Charles Munch , often at the Tanglewood Music Festival , performing works like the role of the evangelist in Bach's Johannes Passion (1956). He was also a regular performer with the Dessoff Choirs under conductor Paul Boepple , performing as
111-454: A population of 13,380. The population density was 2,175.8 inhabitants per square mile (840.1/km ). The racial makeup of Coalinga was 7,734 (57.8%) White , 549 (4.1%) African American , 171 (1.3%) Native American , 407 (3.0%) Asian , 36 (0.3%) Pacific Islander , 3,937 (29.4%) from other races , and 546 (4.1%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7,161 persons (53.5%). The Census reported that 11,752 people (87.8% of
148-567: A tenor soloist in oratorios like Handel 's Messiah (1956) and Handel's Israel in Egypt (1957). One work which he performed with frequency during these years was J.S. Bach 's Mass in B Minor , which he first performed in February 1955 with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under conductor Margaret Hillis . He later performed the work with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood in
185-601: Is 9a. The average annual precipitation is 8.18 inches (208 mm), falling mainly from October to May. The city's main industries are agriculture , oil , Cannabis , education and incarceration . The city is home to the Coalinga Oil Field , operated by Chevron and Aera Energy ; the Guijarral Hills Oil Field ; and Pleasant Valley State Prison . Coalinga State Hospital opened in September 2005. It
222-399: Is Braner's Cut north of Eureka, whose sign said "BRACUT," which has now become the name of that spot along Highway 101.] The resemblance to Nahuatl (where cōātl = "snake") is accidental. The first post office was established in 1899. The city was incorporated in 1906. The town is mostly surrounded by the Coalinga oil field whose principal operator, Chevron , is a major employer in
259-592: Is a city in Fresno County and the western San Joaquin Valley , in central California about 80 miles (128 km) southeast of Salinas . It was formerly known as Coaling Station A , Coalingo , and Coalinga Station . The population was 13,380 as of the 2010 census, up from 11,668 at the 2000 census. It is the site of both Pleasant Valley State Prison and Coalinga State Hospital . Legendary bandit Joaquin Murrieta
296-471: Is also on the museum's property. The museum continues to collect historical items donated to the collection. The Coalinga Rifle Club, whose 25 point, 1000 yard range facility is west of town, is host to various California State Rifle Championships. These include: California State Long Range, Mid Range, Palma Rifle, Fullbore, Service Rifle and High Power Championships. In the past, the Navy SEALs have trained at
333-519: Is median family income in 1999 dollars. "Med. home value" is the median value of single-family houses. "Poverty families" is the percentage of families with incomes below the poverty level. "High school diploma" is the percentage of people 25 years and over who had graduated from high school. The Horned Toad Derby is held in Coalinga in late May over the Memorial Day weekend annually. The three-day event
370-506: Is nearby. Coalinga is located at the junction of California State Route 198 and California State Route 33 . Fresno County Rural Transit Agency provides Monday through Saturday bus service between Coalinga and Fresno , including stops at Fresno Amtrak and Fresno International Airport . FlixBus stops twice daily at the ARCO station, en route to Los Angeles and the Bay Area. The city owns
407-515: Is similar to the more famous Jumping Frog Jubilee held in Calaveras County, California , but utilizes locally caught horned toads (lizards) rather than frogs. The tradition began in 1935. The WHAMOBASS Balloon Rally is hosted by Coalinga annually on the November weekend closest to Montgolfiere Day (November 21) every year. It's the longest consecutively running annual hot air balloon rally in
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#1732863210932444-461: The Boston Symphony Orchestra in Berlioz's Requiem . Up to this point in his career, McCollum had mainly been busy performing as a concert singer and had not spent the majority of his time performing in operas. This began to change in early 1960s when he began to perform much more frequently in operas, although his concert career remained active. He performed with companies across North America during
481-587: The New York Philharmonic . In 1953 he made his first appearance in a staged opera as Fenton in Giuseppe Verdi 's Falstaff with Goldovsky's New England Opera Theatre . That same year he made his first appearance with the Boston Symphony Orchestra as the tenor soloist in Hector Berlioz 's Roméo et Juliette with soprano Jennie Tourel . During the mid-1950s McCollum was highly busy performing as
518-948: The 1960s, including the Opera Company of Boston , the Canadian Opera Company , the Cincinnati Opera , the Seattle Opera , the Washington National Opera , and Vancouver Opera among others. He sang four roles with the Santa Fe Opera during the 1962 summer season: Ferrando, the second tenor in Igor Stravinsky 's Renard , The Fisherman in Stravinsky's The Nightingale , and Alfredo in La traviata . He remained active with
555-642: The Boston Symphony Orchestra during the 1960s, performing in concerts of Berlioz's La damnation de Faust and Beethoven 's Symphony No. 9 among others. The year 1963 was an important year for McCollum's opera life. He began the year singing Licinius in Gaspare Spontini 's rarely heard opera La Vestale for his debut with the American Opera Society at Carnegie Hall. This was followed by an offer from Julius Rudel , then director of
592-523: The International Aerobatic Club. It relocated to Coalinga from Paso Robles in 2013. Visitors to the airport can view upwards of 45 pilots flying a wide variety of competitive aircraft in five categories of competition over a two-day period. The Harris Ranch is a cattle ranch that features a hotel, several restaurants, and a gift shop for travelers. It is located on Interstate 5 about 13 miles northeast of Coalinga. The Harris Ranch Airport
629-659: The New York City Opera in 1964, the world premiere of Lee Hoiby 's Natalia Petrovna . After the 1960s McCollum's career began to slow down. He appeared mostly in concerts during the early 1970s and did not perform much after the mid-1970s. He taught for many years on the voice faculty of the University of Michigan . He died in October 2015 at the age of 93. Coalinga, California Coalinga ( / ˌ k oʊ . ə ˈ l ɪ ŋ ɡ ə / or / k ə ˈ l ɪ ŋ ɡ ə / )
666-678: The New York City Opera, to join the roster of principal tenors at his company. McCollum accepted and made his debut with the company in October 1963 as Don Ottavio in Mozart's Don Giovanni . Then in December he recorded the role of King Kaspar in Gian Carlo Menotti 's Amahl and the Night Visitors in a television production made by the NBC Opera Theatre . He returned for one more opera with
703-427: The area. On May 2, 1983, Coalinga was struck by an earthquake with a moment magnitude of 6.5, which nearly destroyed more than 300 homes and apartment buildings; another 691 buildings suffered major damage, and hundreds more had minor damage. Damage was severe in downtown Coalinga; the eight-block commercial district was almost totally destroyed. The shock was felt as far away as Los Angeles and western Nevada , and
740-568: The city get out of a financial crisis and to supply jobs to local residents. Coalinga is the site of Coalinga College (formally West Hills College-Coalinga), which is part of the California Community Colleges system . Its children are served by the Coalinga-Huron Joint Unified School District , of which Coalinga High School is a part. The 2010 United States Census reported that Coalinga had
777-417: The north. The Southern Pacific Railroad Company established the site as a coaling station in 1888, and it was called simply Coaling Station A. Local tradition has it that an official of Southern Pacific made the name more sonorous by adding an a to it. However, it is just as likely that the small railside signs of the day, which often abbreviated names, read "COALINGA" to mean "Coaling A." [Another example
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#1732863210932814-541: The population was Hispanic or Latino. The median age in 2000 was 28.6 years, younger than the 33.3 figure for California and the 35.3 figure for the United States as a whole. The median income for a family was $ 41,208, about $ 11,000 less than for other families in California or the country at large. The Coalinga Chamber of Commerce Web site in 2007 estimated a population of 18,061 for the city. Notes: "Family income"
851-643: The population) lived in households, 130 (1.0%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 1,498 (11.2%) were institutionalized. There were 3,896 households, out of which 1,809 (46.4%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 1,913 (49.1%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 658 (16.9%) had a female householder with no husband present, 311 (8.0%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 341 (8.8%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships , and 16 (0.4%) same-sex married couples or partnerships . 797 households (20.5%) were made up of individuals, and 220 (5.6%) had someone living alone who
888-554: The population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 5,560 people (41.6%) lived in rental housing units. At the census of 2000, there were 11,668 people, 3,515 households, and 2,632 families residing in the city. These included 805 people who were living in group homes. The racial makeup of Coalinga under those circumstances was 57.3 percent white, 2.4 percent African American, 1.5 percent Native American , 1.7 percent Asian, 0.2 percent Pacific Islander, 32.3 percent from other races , and 4.6 percent from two or more races. About half
925-472: The prediction was no longer valid. Coalinga is located 52 miles (84 km) southwest of Fresno , at an elevation of 673 feet (205 m). The topography is generally level, suitable for a number of field crops which do not require large amounts of water. It is located near the eastern foothills of the Diablo Range . Underlying rock formations include the occurrence of Vaqueros sandstone . Surrounding
962-499: The rifle club. It is also the home of the California Grizzlies, Junior National Champions for the last four years. They have recreational facilities for rifle, pistol, shotgun and a 500-meter Metallic Silhouette Range. The New Coalinga Municipal Airport is host to the annual Northern California Aerobatic contest. This early June event is typically the largest of five annual California regional aerobatic contests sanctioned by
999-597: The summer of 1955 and with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Bethlehem Bach Festival in 1956. In March 1955 he sang Helenus in a lauded production of Berlioz's Les Troyens with the New England Opera Theater opposite Eunice Alberts as Cassandre, Marriquita Moll as Dido, and Arthur Schoep as Aeneas. The year 1958 proved to be a banner year for McCollum. In April of that year he was
1036-620: The tenor soloist in Haydn 's The Creation with sopranos Adele Addison and Louise Natale , baritone Mack Harrell , the New York Philharmonic , and conductor Robert Shaw . Later that month he sang Ferrando in Mozart 's Così fan tutte with the Washington Opera Society in Washington, D.C. The following June he made his European debut at the very first Festival dei Due Mondi as Reuel in
1073-650: The tenor soloist in a production of Felix Mendelssohn 's Elijah at the Church of the Ascension in November 1951 with soprano Beverly Wolff and bass-baritone Paul King . In 1952 he tied for first place in the American Theatre Wing 's singing contest with soprano Helen Clayton . That same year he made his Carnegie Hall debut singing Prince Vasiliy Ivanovich Shuysky in a concert version of Modest Mussorgsky 's Boris Godunov with conductor Dimitri Mitropoulos and
1110-541: The town in a semicircle from the west, around the north, and to the east are several anticlinal formations containing considerable accumulations of petroleum as the Coalinga Oil Field , from which oil has been withdrawn for more than a hundred years. The city is located near a particularly active portion of the San Andreas Fault , and earthquakes are frequent. Coalinga has a cold semi-arid climate ( BSk ), with very hot summers and cool winters. Its hardiness zone
1147-612: The world premiere of Lee Hoiby 's chamber opera The Scarf with Patricia Neway and Richard Cross . In August he performed the title role in Gioacchino Rossini 's Le comte Ory at Tanglewood and in October he performed in Thomas Arne 's rarely heard opera Comus with The Little Orchestra Society . In 1959 McCollum performed Handel's Ode for St. Cecilia's Day with the New York Philharmonic under conductor Leonard Bernstein . He also returned to Tanglewood to perform with
John McCollum - Misplaced Pages Continue
1184-643: The world. It is sponsored by the Whiskey Hill Atherton Menlo Oaks Ballooning & Sporting Society. Typically, more than 40 balloons ascend at dawn on Saturday and Sunday morning from the athletic field of West Hills College Coalinga . A small number fly on Friday and occasionally on Thursday. The R.C. Baker Memorial Museum is housed in the former Baker Oil Tools machine shop in town. The museum displays local fossils, models of prehistoric fauna, Native American artifacts, and items from pioneer settlers. A restored 1934 Richfield gas station
1221-430: Was 31.9 years. For every 100 females, there were 123.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 132.1 males. There were 4,344 housing units at an average density of 706.4 per square mile (272.7/km ), of which 3,896 were occupied, of which 1,996 (51.2%) were owner-occupied, and 1,900 (48.8%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 3.8%; the rental vacancy rate was 8.4%. 6,192 people (46.3% of
1258-417: Was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.02. There were 2,882 families (74.0% of all households); the average family size was 3.49. The population was spread out, with 3,763 people (28.1%) under the age of 18, 1,610 people (12.0%) aged 18 to 24, 3,646 people (27.2%) aged 25 to 44, 3,308 people (24.7%) aged 45 to 64, and 1,053 people (7.9%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age
1295-401: Was California's first new mental health hospital in more than 50 years, a 1,500-bed facility built specifically to house sexually violent predators . In 2016 Coalinga was one of the first cities to pass an ordinance allowing for the cultivation, manufacturing and distribution of cannabis . The City sold its old Claremont Custody Center (jail) to Ocean Grown Extracts for $ 4.1 million, to help
1332-447: Was followed by a series of aftershocks that caused additional minor damage and some injuries. Only one death was reported: a man who succumbed to a heart attack. In 2022, the city struggled to confront an acute water shortage. The city’s only water source is an aqueduct that is managed by the federal government. Officials estimated that the water was going to run dry before the end of 2022. Due to statewide floods that winter, though,
1369-478: Was killed in 1853 at his headquarters, Arroyo de Cantua, north of Coalinga. California Historical Landmark #344 marks the approximate site of where he was slain, near the junction of present-day State Route 33 and Route 198 . Before 20th-century diesel locomotives , steam locomotives were used, and powered in the San Joaquin Valley by burning coal mined from the northern foothills of Mount Diablo to
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