Gary Rideout, a Maritime opera talent who achieved worldwide success, has died.

The New Brunswick-born Canadian tenor died on Sept. 29 as a result of a brief, unexpected illness. He was 55.

Rideout acquired voice training in both Toronto and Michigan.

He made his U.S. singing debut in the Broadway production of The Phantom of the Opera in 1988, but North America wasn’t enough for him. He wanted to accomplish fame on the world stage. So, he took to the stage, performing in a plethora of plays in St. Petersburg, Russia; Tel Aviv; Adelaide, Australia; Strasbourg, France; San Francisco; and New York.

In the State Opera of South Australia’s 2004 Ring Cycle features, Rideout can be heard singing the lead role in Wagner’s Siegfried.

His repertoire also included roles in operas by Beethoven, Puccini, Strauss and Benjamin Britten.

His age had not stopped him from taking on projects overseas at all– he had been scheduled to perform in Europe, Israel and Quebec in the coming months.

Memorial concerts celebrating his life will be taking place this winter in Sarasota, Fla., where he lived for the past four years, and in his hometown of Hartland, N.B., according to his official website.






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