Michael Rayner

Michael Rayner (6 December 1932 – 13 July 2015) was an English opera singer, best known for his performances in baritone roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.

Rayner worked in his family's motor car company before eventually pursuing classical singing and, in his mid-30s, he trained at the Birmingham School of Music. He then joined Welsh National Opera's "Opera for All", to tour for two years. He played more than a dozen Gilbert and Sullivan roles with the D'Oyly Carte continuously from 1971 to 1979, also recording most of these roles with the company.

Afterwards, he had a brief government service career and sang on the concert stage. He worked with several more Gilbert and Sullivan companies for three more decades, playing some of his old D'Oyly Carte roles and more than a dozen new ones. He also appeared with Hinge and Bracket and on cruise ships, and he performed his own autobiographical musical show.

Rayner was born in Etwall in Derbyshire, the son of Howard T Rayner and Irene (née Docking). He was raised in Derby, where he was a choirboy at St Luke's Church and later St Werburgh's Church. As a young man, he apprenticed with Rolls-Royce before joining his family's motor car company, where he eventually became sales manager. At this time, he performed in amateur productions in Corby and elsewhere, including Derby Opera Company and Opera da Camera. In 1955 he married Sylvia Groome, and the couple had four children. In 1967, at age 34, Rayner decided to focus on singing and was accepted into the Birmingham School of Music. In 1969, Rayner joined the Wales National Choir and Welsh National Opera's "Opera for All", to tour for two seasons in such roles as Figaro in The Barber of Seville, Sharpless in Madam Butterfly, Frank in Die Fledermaus and the title role in Eugene Onegin.