Born: December 21, 1931 - Blackness, Scotland, UK
Died: September 15, 2020 - Laren, the Netherlands |
The Scotish-Dutch mezzo-soprano, presenter and voice teacher, Caroline Kaart (neé Caroline Paterson Raitt), lived in the Netherlands at the end of the 1950’s, after she had married the 11 years older tenor and actor Hans Kaart. He, however, died in June 1963 after a failed ear surgery in Lugano, Switzerland. Caroline Kaart was living in the Netherlands and was a presenter in musical television, called "Een liedje met Caroline" (A song with Caroline), which was directed by Willy van Hemert. With him she married in 1969 and eight years later, in 1977, again separated from him.
As a singer Caroline Kaart proved to be very versatile. Her voice is somewhere between soprano and alto. She has performed at the Royal Albert Hall during a jubilee concert for Queen Elizabeth II, but also in musicals as America America (1982) by Jos Brink, in which she played the role of Rea de Vries-Rafalowitz played, and later (2002) Caroline Kaart (Lasting Applause), in which she played the role of Cecily. She has also performed with various choirs and church choirs. For many years she was also host of the popular radio program "Klassiek met Caroline" (Classical with Caroline) for AVRO on Radio 4. She did this with Joop Stokkermans with soft piano playing accompanied her while she did the announcements. In 2002, after 23 years with AVRO, she was, very reluctantly, replaced.
After her sin ging career, was over, Caroline Kaart was still busy with giving singing lessons. In her hometown Blaricum she also established the Caroline Kaart Foundation, which promotes the practice of performing arts. In 1982 she became a Knight in the Order of Orange-Nassau. |