Cleve Klein Genzlinger

Professor Genzlinget was my vocal mentor and friend. His vocal support and commitment are remembered.

What an amazing person Cleve Sr was and what a remarkable man he was... my deepest sympathy and heartfelt condolences to those closest to him, as I knew him only briefly over a year or two...soft spoken, patient, and a loving, honorable father to his children Cleve (junior), Jeff, Adele, and Chris) and loving man to his beautiful wife Patricia.

I feel very blessed to have known him for the brief period I did, while I remember his beautiful, gifted voice... what I remember most is a...

I first met Cleve Genzlinger when I was a junior in high school: he adjudicated me in a vocal festival. His encouragement was the one bright memory I have of an otherwise musically frustrating year. During 1964-68 I sang several roles in the SDSU Opera Workshop, and also studied voice with him. His faith in me, his gentle guidance, and his sweet positive attitude toward everyone made those years very special.

I particularly recall his inspiring performance of the Winterreise: it...

It was with deep sadness to read of the passing of Cleve Genzlinger. All those who worked with him over the years, realize we were in the presence of a great singer. I worked at SDSU with Cleve in the early 1960s, having been introduced through J Dayton Smith, when I was given the role of Albert Herring. Thereafter, Cleve and I were associated in several more operas and oratorios at SDSU, and church services at St Luke's Lutheran Church. I feel so honored to have been Cleve's friend and...

My dad's accomplishments stretched to a 6-page resume in 1966, after which time he stopped updating it. To reduce them to a short bio or obit was an exercise in futility. I wrote his SDSU Alumni Bio in 2009 and it was only then that I realized the full extent of his experience. Indeed, his activities in NY from the late 40s until 1956 reads like a Who's Who in mid-20th Century cultural life. When he retired in 1991 he said the thing he would miss most of all were all faces of the students,...

What wonderful memories of music making Mr. Genzlinger gave me in my few years as his student at SDSU, as a performer in school operas he conducted (Beggar's Opera, Of Mice and Men, and Tales of Hoffman), and as a listener to his own beautiful, rich sound in recital at Smith Hall. He delivered such excellence without any ego display. It was great to read music details of his bio, from before and during his tenure at SDSU Never knew the scope of his achievements, only that he was...

It is a treasure to recall my lessons with Mr. Genzlinger beginning in the Fall of 1973. I had moved out here from Ohio, where I had studied with Dr. Ferris Ohl, a colleague of his from Columbia. I enjoyed singing under his direction in The Beggers Opera (Britten), Of Mice and Men (Carlisle Floyd ) and Tales of Hoffmann (Offenbach). He was a gentle and kind teacher. I remember being frozen to my seat with the beauty of his singing in a concert he gave at Smith Recital Hall one evening (with...