Singer with ‘a voice like no other’
AS Bob Borowsky celebrated his 93rd birthday last week, his family and fellow Central Synagogue choir members paid tribute to the “voice like no other”.
AS Bob Borowsky celebrated his 93rd birthday last week, his family and fellow Central Synagogue choir members paid tribute to the “voice like no other”.
Born in South Africa, Borowsky sang his first note in his local synagogue choir at the age of five and went on to enjoy a profoundly successful 88-year singing career.
As his granddaughter Tia Rose Mallinick wrote in a touching tribute to her grandfather, “Who could predict how his singing career would flourish from such a start? Sparking his passion to sing at such an early age, Bob went forth to sing in every Friday night and Saturday morning service, both in South Africa, and then as a soloist for over 20 years at Central Synagogue, after emigrating to Australia in 1996 with his wife Shirley.”
Borowsky’s voice took him beyond the synagogue choir to Italy after he took opera singing lessons alongside his part-time pharmaceutical university studies.
“Bob studied for 18 months alongside Gilda Alfano, renowned retired mezzo-soprano, where, among other skills he mastered the art of diaphragmatic breathing,” Mallinick wrote.
“Her teaching was so profoundly impactful, that Bob never took another singing lesson upon returning to South Africa, and he attributes his enduring technique, still to this day, in his 90s, to that.
“Bob performed a plethora of principal baritone solo roles in South Africa, including his signature role as Germont in La Traviata, with the Performing Arts Council Transvaal and the South African Broadcasting Corporation Orchestra, before moving to Sydney to be closer to his family.
“It did not take much for Shirley and his children to convince him to audition for the Australian Opera, and despite being the oldest person (at the age of 65) at the time to successfully audition, he went on to perform the lead baritone role in Madame Butterfly, La Traviata, Manon Lescaut and Aida.”
COVID restrictions and ill health mean Borowsky’s singing career at Central Synagogue has come to an end, but he still performed at a tribute evening the synagogue hosted in his honour.
Mallinick said Borowsky’s family, “continue to be blessed to hear this bold, brilliant voice around the house, listening in awe to a 93-year-old still producing such magnificent notes”.
Central Synagogue choir member Len Mahemoff said singing alongside Borowsky was, “the musical experience of a lifetime”.
“The beauty of his voice was an inspiration to all of us and the opportunity to perform duets with him was pure joy.”
Another choir member Jacques Klein said, “Bob’s voice is like no other I have ever had the pleasure to sing with, made even more special with his age and his kindness always shown to the rest of us.”
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