The American tenor Eugene Conley (1908- 1981) had established his reputation as a singer in Europe, appearing at the Opéra-Comique in Paris and at the Royal Opera, Stockholm (1947) and at La Scala, Milan, and Covent Garden, London (1949) before making his Metropolitan opera début as Gounod’s Faust in 1950. He quickly became an audience favourite, competing successfully with such European stars as Jussi Björling, Giuseppe di Stefano and Ferrucio Tagliavini, as well as with established favourites Richard Tucker and Jan Peerce. He often sang with the Cincinnati Opera and from 1960 to 1978 was artist-in-residence at the University of North Texas.