Russell Oberlin

Russell Oberlin ( born October 11, 1928 in Akron, Ohio; actually Russell Oberlin Keys ) is an American countertenor.

The son of Mr and Mrs Mary Ethel Keys and John Russell Oberlin had sung as a child in various boys and children's choirs. At the age of 14 years, Oberlin's voice changed to the baritone, and two years later sang tenor. After his high school graduation in 1946 at the John R. Buchtel High School in Akron, Ohio, he studied voice at the Juilliard School of Music in New York City, where he graduated in 1951. At that time, Oberlin sang exclusively in normal tenor location.

Only as a member of the company founded in 1953 in New York vocal and instrumental ensembles The Pro Musica Antiqua to Oberlin trying to use the old location. He was so successful that he was soon widely regarded as a countertenor.

Oberlin primarily with interpretations of music from the Renaissance and Baroque became known. His recording of arias by George Frideric Handel became world famous. Oberlin has played, among others, along with the Canadian pianist Glenn Gould: The joint recording of the cantata BWV 54 Resist but the sin of Johann Sebastian Bach is seen as a rare film document of the art of singing Oberlin on the DVD Hereafter, a documentary about Glenn Gould by Bruno Monsaingeon, .