Peerce, Jan

Peerce, Jan, 1904–85, American tenor, b. New York City as Jacob Pincus Perelmuth. Discovered by Arturo Toscanini, who chose him to be a soloist in a performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, Peerce made his operatic debut in Philadelphia in 1938, singing the Duke in Verdi's Rigoletto. In 1941 he made his debut with the Metropolitan Opera as Alfredo in Verdi's La Traviata. He soon became a leading tenor there in the French and Italian repertoire.

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Peerce, Jan (b. Jacob Pincus Perelmuth) (1904–84) ; born in New York City. After years of singing popular music, he made his operatic debut in Philadelphia in 1938 and his Metropolitan Opera debut in 1941. He remained at the Met as a favorite "tenor-for-all-roles" until 1962, then was active as a recitalist.