David Habbin
Encyclopedia
David Habbin is a tenor
from Ringwood
, Hampshire
, England
, who achieved international acclaim as a founding member of the world's first pop opera band, Amici Forever
.
Habbin spent several years performing and writing with rock and pop
bands before he began vocal training with international opera
tic tenor
Jon Andrew and secured funding to study acting and music theatre at Mountview Theatre School in North London
.
After completing his studies there, he performed in the roles of Marius and Combeferre in Les Misérables
at the Palace Theatre
; had a role in a British feature movie, Julie and the Cadillacs; and starred in the role of Tony in West Side Story
, directed by the librettist, playwright and co-creator of West Side Story Arthur Laurents
, in London
in the original West End revival and in the subsequent tour throughout the United Kingdom
for over 600 performances.
Habbin then went on to consolidate his operatic training for two years at the Royal Northern College of Music
in Manchester
, and has since performed with various UK opera companies in several roles, including Alfredo in La Traviata
, Lt. Pinkerton in Madame Butterfly, Ernesto in Don Pasquale
, Almaviva in The Barber of Seville
, Alfred in Die Fledermaus
and Fenton in Falstaff
.
Habbin also worked with Glyndebourne Festival Opera for their Summer Festival and their touring company, before joining Amici Forever
.
Habbin starred in the 2008 performances of White Christmas
for Raymond Gubbay
with Jacinta Whyte at Royal Albert Hall
.
He is now appearing in the Colgate Total ads.
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
from Ringwood
Ringwood
Ringwood is a historic market town and civil parish in Hampshire, England, located on the River Avon, close to the New Forest and north of Bournemouth. It has a history dating back to Anglo-Saxon times, and has held a weekly market since the Middle Ages....
, Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, who achieved international acclaim as a founding member of the world's first pop opera band, Amici Forever
Amici Forever
Amici Forever is a band of four classically trained singers who mix opera with pop music . The band's first album, The Opera Band , reached number one on the Australian classical charts, number two on the United States classical charts and the top 5 in the United Kingdom classical...
.
Habbin spent several years performing and writing with rock and pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
bands before he began vocal training with international opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
tic tenor
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
Jon Andrew and secured funding to study acting and music theatre at Mountview Theatre School in North London
North London
North London is the northern part of London, England. It is an imprecise description and the area it covers is defined differently for a range of purposes. Common to these definitions is that it includes districts located north of the River Thames and is used in comparison with South...
.
After completing his studies there, he performed in the roles of Marius and Combeferre in Les Misérables
Les Misérables (musical)
Les Misérables , colloquially known as Les Mis or Les Miz , is a musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg, based on the novel of the same name by Victor Hugo....
at the Palace Theatre
Palace Theatre, London
The Palace Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster in London. It is an imposing red-brick building that dominates the west side of Cambridge Circus and is located near the intersection of Shaftesbury Avenue and Charing Cross Road...
; had a role in a British feature movie, Julie and the Cadillacs; and starred in the role of Tony in West Side Story
West Side Story
West Side Story is an American musical with a script by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and choreographed by Jerome Robbins...
, directed by the librettist, playwright and co-creator of West Side Story Arthur Laurents
Arthur Laurents
Arthur Laurents was an American playwright, stage director and screenwriter.After writing scripts for radio shows after college and then training films for the U.S...
, in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in the original West End revival and in the subsequent tour throughout the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
for over 600 performances.
Habbin then went on to consolidate his operatic training for two years at the Royal Northern College of Music
Royal Northern College of Music
The Royal Northern College of Music is a music school in Manchester, England. It is located on Oxford Road in Chorlton on Medlock, at the western edge of the campus of the University of Manchester and is one of four conservatories associated with the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music...
in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, and has since performed with various UK opera companies in several roles, including Alfredo in La Traviata
La traviata
La traviata is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on La dame aux Camélias , a play adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils. The title La traviata means literally The Fallen Woman, or perhaps more figuratively, The Woman...
, Lt. Pinkerton in Madame Butterfly, Ernesto in Don Pasquale
Don Pasquale
Don Pasquale is an opera buffa, or comic opera, in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The librettist Giovanni Ruffini wrote the Italian language libretto after Angelo Anelli's libretto for Stefano Pavesi's Ser Marcantonio ....
, Almaviva in The Barber of Seville
The Barber of Seville
The Barber of Seville, or The Futile Precaution is an opera buffa in two acts by Gioachino Rossini with a libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's comedy Le Barbier de Séville , which was originally an opéra comique, or a mixture of spoken play with music...
, Alfred in Die Fledermaus
Die Fledermaus
Die Fledermaus is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée.- Literary sources :...
and Fenton in Falstaff
Falstaff (opera)
Falstaff is an operatic commedia lirica in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi, adapted by Arrigo Boito from Shakespeare's plays The Merry Wives of Windsor and scenes from Henry IV. It was Verdi's last opera, written in the composer's ninth decade, and only the second of his 26 operas to be a comedy...
.
Habbin also worked with Glyndebourne Festival Opera for their Summer Festival and their touring company, before joining Amici Forever
Amici Forever
Amici Forever is a band of four classically trained singers who mix opera with pop music . The band's first album, The Opera Band , reached number one on the Australian classical charts, number two on the United States classical charts and the top 5 in the United Kingdom classical...
.
Habbin starred in the 2008 performances of White Christmas
White Christmas (musical)
White Christmas is a musical based on the Paramount Pictures 1954 film of the same name. The libretto is by David Ives and Paul Blake, with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin...
for Raymond Gubbay
Raymond Gubbay
Raymond Gubbay is a classical music promoter and impresario based in London. The programme to celebrate the 40th anniversary of his starting out as a promoter says that, after arranging small scale concerts around the UK, he began gradually to promote in London...
with Jacinta Whyte at Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
.
He is now appearing in the Colgate Total ads.
Discography
with Amici Forever- The Opera BandThe Opera Band-Making of the album:The members of Amici Forever met when rehearsing and performing at opera venues around the world. Tenor Geoff Sewell, originally from New Zealand, came up with the idea of an "opera band" mixing traditional opera with contemporary pop...
(2004) - DefinedDefined (album)Defined is an album by popera group Amici Forever released in 2005.-Track listing:#"La Fiamma Sacra "#"Nella Fantasia"#"The Prayer"#"Aranjuez Ma Pensee"#"So Far Away"#"Nostalgia "#"Core'ngrato "...
(2005)