Main image: Steven Godbee
There’s a deep male voice on the other end of the phone belting out Barbra Streisand’s hit Evergreen. He apologises for sounding a bit rough – it’s only 10am after all and his latte hasn’t quite kicked in. But Kiwi bass-baritone Jud Arthur can’t help but burst into the first song he learned as a young teen.
“I didn’t care that it was a ‘woman’s’ song!” laughs the opera star, chatting to the Weekly while in rehearsals as the assassin Sparafucile in Verdi’s Rigoletto in Auckland.
Growing up in Mosgiel, when Jud turned 15, his grandparents asked him if he’d rather have singing lessons or boxing lessons for his birthday.
“I said, ‘Well, I’d like to have boxing lessons,’ but my mother said, ‘No, I think singing lessons would be better for you because you’re already a bit aggressive,’” he recalls. “But I embraced it. I’ve always stepped through doors and I’ve never been scared to try something new.”
A professional career in sports beckoned, however, which included playing rugby and basketball for Otago, representing New Zealand in showjumping and spending three seasons at the Mirano rugby club in Italy – “That helped me learn the language and sound reasonably authentic for opera!”
After a knee injury ended his sporting success, Jud auditioned for Opera New Zealand at the age of 27. Having had no formal training in opera or classical music didn’t stop him. It’s not the usual route, but Jud had help from Dunedin choir teacher and pianist Margaret Gardiner. She became his mentor and “musical mum” for more than 30 years.
“Margaret was like family,” recalls the 62-year-old, who has lived in Australia since 2003. “Without her, I wouldn’t be a professional singer, that’s for sure. She put in hours and hours, teaching me my roles. She polished me up to go away and do roles I’d been offered.
“It was quite funny. We’d spend more time having cups of tea, and laughing and joking after the lesson than the lesson itself. If people remember that old British sitcom called Spring and Autumn, with the young bloke who befriended the old bloke, we were like that.
“Her twin sister Joan would join us too. She played lead violin in the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra and Margaret was a pianist. Their reputation in Dunedin’s music scene was unparalleled. But they were more like my good mates.”
Sadly, Margaret passed away last year, aged in her early nineties.
“I didn’t know she was as ill as she was,” tells Jud. “It was only when she had a stroke and was in care in her final days that they let me know. I flew over immediately so I could say goodbye.
“She perked up and knew I was there. I sang Old Man River to her and she still critiqued me: ‘You didn’t hold onto the line properly.’ Always the stickler, Margaret!”
Jud has been no stranger to loss in recent years. His wife, Australian soprano Taryn Fiebig, died in 2021 of ovarian cancer aged 49.
He describes the grief as “always there bubbling away under the surface and some innocuous thing can bring it to the surface”.
But now happily, the father of two daughters – Lucia, 22, and Millijana, 18 – has found love again. He recently got engaged to Brisbane-based opera singer Kathryn King, 49.
He says they plan to get married sometime in the near future.
“We’ve known each other for years,” tells Jud. “She’s a pretty gorgeous girl who is part of the Australian Celtic Women band and works for Opera Queensland. We’ve done a couple of shows together and have always been good mates.
“Kathryn’s been through loss as well [her first husband died in a motor accident], so she could empathise where I was at in the early days of our relationship when it was still an emotional time. She was very patient.”
With Jud currently living on his farm in the New South Wales highlands, running a farrier business, the couple have been living apart during the week.
“I’ve been flying in to Brisbane on a Friday and flying out on a Monday morning because I have the farm and horses to look after. But we’re prioritising finding a place to live together as a family up there and I’ll keep a manager on the farm.”
For now, Jud’s enjoying his time back home in New Zealand, catching up with friends between Rigoletto rehearsals.
When asked how he feels about the NZ Herald referring to him as a “barihunk”, the 1.82 metres (six foot two) singer laughs uproariously.
“Well, it’s a matter of opinion isn’t it? Kathryn seems to think I’m all right! I’m getting on in years now, but if I can still pull off a ‘barihunk’ description, then I’ll take it!”
Jud stars in NZ Opera’s Rigoletto in Auckland from September 19 to 25. For more info, visit nzopera.com
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
