John Cargher

Pinchas Cargher AM, known professionally as John Cargher (24 January 1919 – 30 April 2008), was a British-born Australian music and ballet journalist and radio broadcaster.

He was born in the Cockney area of London to a Jewish rabbinical family, but was raised mainly in Germany and Spain, returning to England in 1931, which resulted in his trademark hard-to-pin-down accent.

Cargher was interned on the Isle of Man in the Hutchinson Camp during World War II as part of the British Government's policy of interring those who they thought may be sympathetic to the Nazi regime. Using the pen name "John", he wrote for The Camp newspaper about the transformative effect that music played over the radio had on his well-being.

He came to Australia with his wife and daughter in 1951. In Melbourne, he managed Thomas's Records, and became managing director of the National Theatre in St. Kilda from 1969 to 1989.

His many occupations included: aircraftman, art dealer, art exhibition organiser, assistant cameraman (films), author, ballet administrator, broadcaster, building designer, comedy writer, compere, concert promoter and manager, critic, diamond merchant, impresario, intimate revue pioneer, journalist, lecturer, mechanical engineer, opera producer, photographer, radio programmer, record producer, record retailer, recorded books reader, schools administrator, television presenter, theatre manager, theatrical agent, toolmaker and turner-fitter.

Singers of Renown

Carger's broadcasting career began on Melbourne commercial radio, with classical music programs on both 3KZ and 3XY. He later transferred to the ABC where he is most famous for single-handedly compiling and broadcasting Singers of Renown, a weekly celebration of the great classical voices from the earliest days of recording through to the present day. The program was broadcast on ABC Radio.