OBITUARIES : Ernest St. John Metz, 66; Opera Coach

Opera coach Ernest St. John (Jack) Metz died Tuesday morning at St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank where he was being treated for liver cancer. He was 66.

At the time of his death, Metz served on the staff of Los Angeles Music Center Opera as vocal adviser. For the last decade, he filled a similar function with the Australian Opera in Sydney in its winter (May-July) seasons.

Born in Charleston, S.C., Metz came from a musical family and began piano study in parochial school. He also studied voice and, eventually, as a baritone, gave recitals.

He attended his first opera performance at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City at the age of 10. Then, as a teen-ager, he moved to New Jersey to live with his stepmother, and at that time became a regular opera-goer at the Met.

Metz moved to Hollywood in the late 1940s. From that time until his last trip to Australia this spring, Metz’s studio was a workroom for hundreds of young singers he coached in operatic roles and in the art-song literature.

For most of the last two decades Metz was the mentor of Metropolitan Opera soprano Leona Mitchell, with whom he traveled. The other singers he worked with over the years included Leontyne Price, Kathryn Grayson, Maralin Niska, Mary Costa, Carol Neblett, Ken Remo, Jonathan Mack, Neil Shicoff, Carol Vaness and Angelique Burzynski.

A memorial service will be held at 7:30 p.m. Friday at St. Charles Church in North Hollywood.