Vinson Cole's vocal promise was recognized at an early age when he won the Metropolitan Opera Auditions and the WGN Competition in Chicago and was awarded Rockefeller Foundation and National Opera Institute grants.

He went on to sing leading roles in many major opera houses including the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Opéra National de Paris and Paris Opéra-Bastille, Teatro alla Scala, and the theatres in Berlin, Vienna, and Hamburg. For nine years, he sang at the Salzburg Festival. In the United States, he has sung with the New York City, Seattle, Houston, Santa Fe, and St. Louis opera companies.

Mr. Cole is closely identified with the French repertoire of the operatic literature. He was much loved for his interpretation of Le Chevalier de Grieux at the Paris Opéra Comique. Not long after he was engaged to sing the tenor version of Gluck's Orphée in Seattle. After this many other French works came his way: Lakmé, Werther, Carmen, Don Carlos, Faust, and La damnation de Faust.

Mr. Cole has taught at the University of Washington School of Music and at the Aspen Music Festival and School. He has also conducted masterclasses for the San Francisco Opera's Merola Program and the Canadian Opera Company. He is currently a faculty member at the New England Conservatory of Music.

Vinson Cole will be featured on The Black Arts on Wednesday, September 30th at 10.00 p.m.

The Black Arts-National City Artist of the Month is presented with the sponsorship of National City, now a part of PNC, dedicated to supporting the communities they serve.