For decades, Dr. Jerome Nolan was the beating heart of opera in Wilmington. When the local commercial radio station discontinued its weekly Metropolitan Opera broadcasts in the early 1980s, Jerry – along with other opera lovers in the area – parked on the UNCW campus where they could receive the university’s low-power signal and hear the broadcasts that way.
But Jerry, along with a few others, knew there had to be a better solution, so they banded together under his leadership to start a public radio station that would carry opera and other classical music. Despite negative forecasts from public radio “experts” who said the city was too small to support a community-funded station, this group – who branded themselves as Friends of the Opera – persisted and in 1984 launched Wilmington’s High Quality Radio station: WHQR.
Jerry served as an on-air announcer for opera on WHQR for several years, bringing his knowledge of opera and his gentle humor to the airwaves.
When UNCW voice professor Nancy King and opera enthusiasts Wendy and Jerry Fingerhut formed Opera Wilmington in 2014, Jerry Nolan was a natural to incorporate into the fledgling company. After he stepped aside four years (and one term as President) later, the board celebrated his many contributions by naming him Opera Wilmington’s President Emeritus.
Jerry and his wife Sandra continued to attend Opera Wilmington performances and to support the organization financially. An accomplished pianist, Jerry hosted several Opera Wilmington concerts at Porters Neck Village, during which he often played a piano duet with UNCW’s Elizabeth Loparits.
All of us at Opera Wilmington will remember Jerry with great fondness and will miss him very much. You can read his StarNews obituary here.