Karl Jörn

German-Latvian opera singer (tenor).
b.: Riga, Latvia, January 5, 1873;
d.: Denver, Colorado, USA, December 19, 1947.

The son of a master cobbler, Karl Jörn studied voice in Berlin with the support of a wealthy supporter. After short-term engagements in Freiburg, Zürich, and Hamburg, he sang at the Berlin State Opera from 1902-1908 and became Emperor Wilhelm II.'s favorite singer. During the same time, he also gave guest performances in London, Brussels, and Amsterdam. From 1908-1914, he worked at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. In 1914, he sang the title role for the Berlin premiere of Richard Wagner's "Parsifal," but in 1916, he returned to the United States. He became a US citizen that same year, but spend the rest of his life working as a voice teacher, with the exception of 1929-1931 when he joined the German Opera Company led by his former Met colleague Johanna Gadski on its tour of the United States. He was married to the singer Else Jörn-Becker.