Patricia Leonard

Patricia Leonard (9 March 1936 – 28 January 2010) was an English opera singer, best known for her performances in mezzo-soprano and contralto roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company.

After working as a secretary, Leonard turned to singing in concerts and on the radio. She began to sing opera, first with Sadler's Wells Opera, and joined the D'Oyly Carte in 1972. There she moved up from chorister to small-role player, understudying larger roles, taking on the major mezzo-soprano role of Mad Margaret in Ruddigore in 1975. In 1977, she took over as the company's principal contralto, playing ten of these leading roles with the company until its closure in 1982. She married Michael Buchan (né Michael Fox), who joined D'Oyly Carte with her and performed frequently with her in later years.

In later years, she continued to perform in Gilbert and Sullivan operas with various opera companies and with the group Gilbert and Sullivan for All. She also returned to singing in concerts, including oratorios, opera pieces and other classical works, including in a series of The Proms evenings with the National Concert Orchestra, as well as operetta, musical theatre and music hall. She appeared on BBC broadcasts and in plays, films and commercials until about 2008 and gave singing lessons.

Patricia Leonard was born in Stoke-on-Trent and brought up in Stourbridge, Worcester, England. She studied the piano and took voice lessons from the bass-baritone John Dethick in Sheffield. While working as a secretary, she began to perform with an amateur operatic society, where she met bass-baritone Michael Fox (who later used the stage name Michael Buchan), whom she would later marry. Becoming more serious about performing, she began to study voice at the Birmingham School of Music. Among other awards, she won the Rose Bowl at the Blackpool Music Festival at the age of twenty.