Sir John van Kesteren

Sir John van Kesteren, 87, of Jupiter, died Friday, July 11 at his home. He was born in The Hague, Netherlands. He was a Dutch operatic tenor whose international singing career spanned seven decades. During his career, he performed in many of the world's most prestigious opera houses, including La Scala in Milan, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires and the City Opera in New York. He excelled in works by Mozart, the Italian Belcanto masters Rossini, Donizetti, and Bellini, as well as those by Britten and Bach. He sang the part of the Evangelist in Bach's "St. Matthew Passion" more than 500 times on five continents, including the first Russian performance of that piece. He became close friends with the composer Carl Orff, who is known to have written to orchestras around the world planning to perform his "Carmina Burana" that Sir John was his favorite singer for the part of "the Roasted Swan." He recorded 27 albums, including operas, operettas, and concert pieces. He worked with many leading orchestras and conductors, including Erich Kleiber, Leonard Bernstein, Riccardo Muti, and Zubin Mehta. He sang regularly under Herbert van Karajan with the Berlin Philharmonic, including the first German performance of Britten's "War Requiem" and a televised concert of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and "Missa Solemnis" in Hiroshima, commemorating the 25th anniversary of the dropping of the atom bomb. He was knighted by the Dutch Queen Juliana in 1970 and was awarded several additional honorary titles in the Federal Republic of Germany. He and his wife, Louise, founded a local food relief organization, Help the Hungry at Home, Inc., as well as an annual music event, the Blowing Rocks Music festival, to provide funding for the organization. He sang at the festival which had the motto "We turn music into food" through its final season in 1996. He also helped found and served on the Advisory Board of the Palm Beach Atlantic National Vocal Competition, an organization dedicated to assisting aspiring young vocalists in their classical music careers. He continued to perform and tour internationally well into his 80s. Excerpts of his book, "Sir John's Diary," published in 1995, were first printed in "The Jupiter Courier." Survivors include his wife of 52 years, Louise van Kesteren; and a sister, Gre van Prehn of Dietrn, the Netherlands. Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m., Friday July 18, at the Aycock Funeral Home 1112 Military Trail Jupiter. A memorial service will be at 2 p.m., Saturday, July 19 at the First Presbyterian Church, 482 Tequesta Drive. Memorial contributions may be made to the First Presbyterian Church of Tequesta Choir. Arrangements were by Aycock Funeral Home of Jupiter.