Master Gill to Pursue Opera Career

Richard T. Gill '48-the musical Master of Leverett House-will start a new career next fall as a professional opera singer. Gill is reported to have signed a contract with the New York City Opera Company for next season's production of The Barber of Seville.

Gill is reported to have offered his resignation to the Corporation several weeks ago. However, as of yesterday afternoon, he had not been informed of any action by the Corporation, and refused to comment on his status.

'Calumny' Aria

Gill, who has a basso profundo voice well suited to the Italian comic opera, will sing the role of Basilio, the pudgy priest who is chaplain in the court of Count Almaviva. The plot of Barber is based on a play of Beaumarchais, and is related to the plot of Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro.

The Barber, written by Rossini in 1816, comes after Figaro chronologically, but the action of the play is a prelude to that of the Mozart opera. In his role as Don Basilio, Gill will be called on to sing one of the most memorable parts of the opera, the "calumny" aria.

Gill has sung the role of Almaviva in Le Nozze at Leverett House twice in recent years, and met with great success. He also sang the bass part in this spring's production of the Bach Saint Matthew Passion in Sanders Theatre.

Asked about his new career as a singer yesterday, Gill would not confirm the report, but said, "I will not deny at this point that I have a strong interest in this possibility." He said that he would not comment further until the Corporation had acted on his case.

European Positions

Gill, who is a lecturer in Economics, spent the academic year 1969-70 on sabbatical, and dedicated his full time to training his voice. Earlier this year, reports circulated that he had been offered several positions with European opera companies, but had turned them down.

This new career is Gill's third. Before becoming an economist, he tried his hand at writing, and won the Atlantic Magazine's Best First Story Award for 1954. His stories have appeared in the Atlantic and the New Yorker.