Iestyn Davies
Encyclopedia
Iestyn Davies is a British classical countertenor
.
. He began singing countertenor in his teens, at Wells Cathedral School. He returned to St John's as a choral scholar, graduating in archaeology and anthropology. He gained his DipRAM from and was later appointed ARAM by the Royal Academy of Music
. In 2004 he won the Audience Prize at the London Handel Singing Competition. In 2010 he was named Young Artist of the Year by the Royal Philharmonic Society
. He is the son of cellist Ioan Davies, a founder member of the Fitzwilliam Quartet
and a member of St. John's College.
for both Zürich Opera
and Glyndebourne Festival Opera
, and in Handel
's Partenope
he has sung Arsace for New York City Opera
and Armindo for English National Opera
. He has sung Oberon in Britten's A Midsummer Night’s Dream
for Houston Grand Opera
, Apollo in Britten's Death in Venice
for English National Opera and Hamor in Handel's Jephtha for both Welsh National Opera
and Opéra National de Bordeaux. In 2010 he sang Creonte in Agostino Steffani
's Niobe at the Royal Opera House
, Covent Garden.
He has appeared in concert at Teatro alla Scala with Gustavo Dudamel
, at the Concertgebouw
and the Tonhalle
with Ton Koopman
, at the Barbican
, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées
and Lincoln Centre, and at the Royal Albert Hall
in the BBC Proms. He has worked with many leading orchestras including the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
, Academy of Ancient Music
, Scottish Chamber Orchestra
, the Hallé Orchestra, the King's Consort, Northern Sinfonia
, the English Concert
, the Akademie für Alte Musik, Berlin
, Retrospect Ensemble
, the Parley of Instruments, Il Complesso Barocco, the Gabrieli Consort and Players, the Minnesota Orchestra
, London Philharmonic Orchestra
, Britten Sinfonia
, Concerto Köln
, Concerto Copenhagen
, Ensemble Matheus, Fretwork
and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
.
Leading interpreters with whom Iestyn Davies has collaborated include conductors Rinaldo Alessandrini
, Philippe Bender, Harry Bicket
, Ivor Bolton
, Frans Brüggen
, Harry Christophers
, Stephen Cleobury
, Laurence Cummings
, Christian Curnyn
, Alan Curtis
, Steven Devine, Richard Egarr
, John Eliot Gardiner
, Edward Gardner
, Jane Glover
, Paul Goodwin
, Emmanuelle Haïm
, Matthew Halls, Nikolas Harnoncourt, Edward Higginbottom, David Hill
, Benedict Hoffnung, Christopher Hogwood
, Peter Holman, Robert King, Nicholas Kraemer
, Stephen Layton
, Iain Leddingham, Charles Mackerras
, Paul McCreesh
, Kenneth Montgomery
, Lars Ulrik Mortensen
, Kent Nagano
, Donald Nally
, James O'Donnell
, Enrico Onofri, Daniel Reuss
, Jeffrey Skidmore
, Jean-Christophe Spinosi
, Charles Stewart, Patrick Summers, Elizabeth Wallfisch
and Dominic Wheeler, and recitalists Julius Drake
, Mark Padmore
, Philip Langridge
and Roger Vignoles
.
Iestyn Davies's future engagements include a Carnegie Hall
recital debut, his debut at the Metropolitan Opera
to which he is re-invited for the 2012 and 2013 seasons, and his Chicago Lyric Opera debut. He will sing his first full operatic performance for La Scala in the coming season in Death in Venice. In London, he will sing the role of Oberon in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at English National Opera.
Countertenor
A countertenor is a male singing voice whose vocal range is equivalent to that of a contralto, mezzo-soprano, or a soprano, usually through use of falsetto, or far more rarely than normal, modal voice. A pre-pubescent male who has this ability is called a treble...
.
Education and background
Iestyn Davies was a boy treble in the choir of St John’s College, CambridgeSt John's College, Cambridge
St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's alumni include nine Nobel Prize winners, six Prime Ministers, three archbishops, at least two princes, and three Saints....
. He began singing countertenor in his teens, at Wells Cathedral School. He returned to St John's as a choral scholar, graduating in archaeology and anthropology. He gained his DipRAM from and was later appointed ARAM by the Royal Academy of Music
Royal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...
. In 2004 he won the Audience Prize at the London Handel Singing Competition. In 2010 he was named Young Artist of the Year by the Royal Philharmonic Society
Royal Philharmonic Society
The Royal Philharmonic Society is a British music society, formed in 1813. It was originally formed in London to promote performances of instrumental music there. Many distinguished composers and performers have taken part in its concerts...
. He is the son of cellist Ioan Davies, a founder member of the Fitzwilliam Quartet
Fitzwilliam Quartet
The Fitzwilliam Quartet is a string quartet consisting of Lucy Russell and Jonathan Sparey, violins; Alan George, viola; and Heather Tuach, violoncello....
and a member of St. John's College.
Performance
Iestyn Davies's opera career to date has included the role of Ottone in Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di PoppeaL'incoronazione di Poppea
L'incoronazione di Poppea is an Italian baroque opera comprising a prologue and three acts, first performed in Venice during the 1642–43 carnival season. The music, attributed to Claudio Monteverdi, is a setting of a libretto by Giovanni Francesco Busenello...
for both Zürich Opera
Zurich Opera
Oper Zürich is an opera company based in Zurich, Switzerland. The company gives performances in the Opernhaus Zürich which has been the company’s home for fifty years.-History:...
and Glyndebourne Festival Opera
Glyndebourne Festival Opera
Glyndebourne Festival Opera is an English opera festival held at Glyndebourne, an English country house near Lewes, in East Sussex, England.-History:...
, and in Handel
HANDEL
HANDEL was the code-name for the UK's National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. It consisted of a small console consisting of two microphones, lights and gauges. The reason behind this was to provide a back-up if anything failed....
's Partenope
Partenope
Partenope is an opera by George Frideric Handel, first performed at the King's Theatre in London on 24 February 1730.-Background:...
he has sung Arsace for New York City Opera
and Armindo for English National Opera
English National Opera
English National Opera is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St. Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with the Royal Opera, Covent Garden...
. He has sung Oberon in Britten's A Midsummer Night’s Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream (opera)
A Midsummer Night's Dream is an opera with music by Benjamin Britten and set to a libretto adapted by the composer and Peter Pears from William Shakespeare's play, A Midsummer Night's Dream...
for Houston Grand Opera
Houston Grand Opera
Houston Grand Opera Houston Grand Opera was founded in 1955 through the joint efforts of Maestro Walter Herbert and cultural leaders Mrs. Louis G. Lobit, Edward Bing and Charles Cockrell...
, Apollo in Britten's Death in Venice
Death in Venice
The novella Death in Venice was written by the German author Thomas Mann, and was first published in 1913 as Der Tod in Venedig. The plot of the work presents a great writer suffering writer's block who visits Venice and is liberated and uplifted, then increasingly obsessed, by the sight of a...
for English National Opera and Hamor in Handel's Jephtha for both Welsh National Opera
Welsh National Opera
Welsh National Opera is an opera company founded in Cardiff, Wales in 1943. The WNO tours Wales, the United Kingdom and the rest of the world extensively. Annually, it gives more than 120 performances of eight main stage operas to a combined audience of around 150,000 people...
and Opéra National de Bordeaux. In 2010 he sang Creonte in Agostino Steffani
Agostino Steffani
Agostino Steffani was an Italian ecclesiastic, diplomat and composer.-Biography:Steffani was born at Castelfranco Veneto. At a very early age he was admitted as a chorister at San Marco, Venice...
's Niobe at the Royal Opera House
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
, Covent Garden.
He has appeared in concert at Teatro alla Scala with Gustavo Dudamel
Gustavo Dudamel
Gustavo Adolfo Dudamel Ramírez is a Venezuelan conductor and violinist. He is currently the principal conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony in Gothenburg, Sweden, and music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Los Angeles, California...
, at the Concertgebouw
Concertgebouw
The Concertgebouw is a concert hall in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Dutch term "concertgebouw" literally translates into English as "concert building"...
and the Tonhalle
Tonhalle Orchester Zurich
Tonhalle Orchester Zürich is a symphony orchestra founded in 1868 in Zürich Switzerland, where it established its residence in the neue Tonhalle in 1895....
with Ton Koopman
Ton Koopman
Ton Koopman is a conductor, organist and harpsichordist.Koopman had a "classical education" and then studied the organ , harpsichord and musicology in Amsterdam...
, at the Barbican
Barbican Centre
The Barbican Centre is the largest performing arts centre in Europe. Located in the City of London, England, the Centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhibitions. It also houses a library, three restaurants, and a conservatory...
, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées
Théâtre des Champs-Élysées
The Théâtre des Champs-Élysées is a theatre at 15 avenue Montaigne. Despite its name, the theatre is not on the Champs-Élysées but nearby in another part of the 8th arrondissement of Paris....
and Lincoln Centre, and at the 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....
in the BBC Proms. He has worked with many leading orchestras including the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment is a British period instrument orchestra. The OAE is a resident orchestra of the Southbank Centre, London, associate orchestra at Glyndebourne Festival Opera and has its headquarters at Kings Place...
, Academy of Ancient Music
Academy of Ancient Music
The Academy of Ancient Music is a period-instrument orchestra based in Cambridge, England. Founded by harpsichordist Christopher Hogwood in 1973, it was named after a previous organisation of the same name of the 18th century. The musicians play on either original instruments or modern copies of...
, Scottish Chamber Orchestra
Scottish Chamber Orchestra
The Scottish Chamber Orchestra is Scotland's national chamber orchestra, based in Edinburgh. One of Scotland’s five National Performing Arts Companies, the SCO performs throughout Scotland, including annual tours of the Scottish Highlands and Islands and South of Scotland. The SCO appears...
, the Hallé Orchestra, the King's Consort, Northern Sinfonia
Northern Sinfonia
The Northern Sinfonia is a British chamber orchestra, based initially in Newcastle upon Tyne, and currently in Gateshead. For the first 46 years of its history, the orchestra gave the bulk of its concerts at the City Hall, Newcastle upon Tyne. Since 2004, the orchestra has been resident at The...
, the English Concert
The English Concert
The English Concert is a baroque orchestra playing on period instruments based in London. Founded in 1972 and directed from the harpsichord by Trevor Pinnock for 30 years, it is now directed by harpsichordist Harry Bicket...
, the Akademie für Alte Musik, Berlin
Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin
Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin is a German chamber orchestra founded in East Berlin in 1982...
, Retrospect Ensemble
Retrospect Ensemble
Retrospect Ensemble is a prominent British period music orchestra, chamber ensemble and choir with an extensive international touring and recording programme.-History:...
, the Parley of Instruments, Il Complesso Barocco, the Gabrieli Consort and Players, the Minnesota Orchestra
Minnesota Orchestra
The Minnesota Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.Emil Oberhoffer founded the orchestra as the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra in 1903, and it gave its first performance on November 5 of that year. In 1968 the orchestra changed to its name to the Minnesota Orchestra...
, London Philharmonic Orchestra
London Philharmonic Orchestra
The London Philharmonic Orchestra , based in London, is one of the major orchestras of the United Kingdom, and is based in the Royal Festival Hall. In addition, the LPO is the main resident orchestra of the Glyndebourne Festival Opera...
, Britten Sinfonia
Britten Sinfonia
Britten Sinfonia is a chamber orchestra ensemble based in Cambridge, UK. It was created in 1992, following an initiative from Eastern Arts and a number of key figures including Nicholas Cleobury, who recognised the need for an orchestra in the East of England. It is a flexible ensemble composed of...
, Concerto Köln
Concerto Köln
Concerto Köln is a Baroque music chamber ensemble.The group formed in 1985, one of many groups associated with the surging interest in period instruments in that decade. Its members consisted mainly of recent graduates of conservatories from across Europe. They began touring the Continent, often...
, Concerto Copenhagen
Concerto Copenhagen
Concerto Copenhagen, also known as CoCo, is a Danish period instrument orchestra, established in 1991 and directed since 1999 by harpsichordist Lars Ulrik Mortensen....
, Ensemble Matheus, Fretwork
Fretwork (music group)
Fretwork is a consort of viols based in England, United Kingdom. Formed in 1986, the group consisted of six players, while it is currently five viols...
and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra is an English orchestra. Originally based in Bournemouth, the BSO moved its offices to the adjacent town of Poole in 1979....
.
Leading interpreters with whom Iestyn Davies has collaborated include conductors Rinaldo Alessandrini
Rinaldo Alessandrini
Rinaldo Alessandrini is a virtuoso on Baroque keyboards, including harpsichord, fortepiano, and organ. He is founder and conductor of the Italian early music ensemble Concerto Italiano, performing music of Monteverdi, Vivaldi, Couperin, J. S. Bach, and others...
, Philippe Bender, Harry Bicket
Harry Bicket
Harry Bicket is a British conductor, harpsichordist and organist.Bicket was educated at Radley College, Christ Church, Oxford, where he was organ scholar, and the Royal College of Music...
, Ivor Bolton
Ivor Bolton
Ivor Bolton is an English conductor and harpsichordist. He studied at Clare College and at the Royal College of Music...
, Frans Brüggen
Frans Brüggen
Frans Brüggen is a well-known Dutch conductor, recorder player and baroque flautist.-Biography:Brüggen studied recorder and flute at the Amsterdam Muzieklyceum. He also studied musicology at the University of Amsterdam. In 1955, at the age of 21, he was appointed professor at the Royal...
, Harry Christophers
Harry Christophers
Harry Christophers is an English conductor. He attended the King's School, Canterbury and was a chorister at Canterbury Cathedral under choirmaster Allan Wicks and played clarinet in the school orchestra alongside Andrew Marriner...
, Stephen Cleobury
Stephen Cleobury
Stephen Cleobury CBE is an English organist and conductor. He was organ scholar at St John's College, Cambridge and sub-organist of Westminster Abbey before becoming Master of Music at Westminster Cathedral in 1979...
, Laurence Cummings
Laurence Cummings
Laurence Cummings , MA , ARCM, FRCO, HonRAM is a British harpsichordist, organist, and conductor. Cummings was educated at Solihull School, Christ Church, Oxford and the Royal College of Music...
, Christian Curnyn
Early Opera Company
The Early Opera Company is a British ensemble dedicated to the performance of baroque operas using period instruments. It was founded in 1994, by Christian Curnyn...
, Alan Curtis
Alan Curtis (harpsichordist)
Alan Curtis is a noted American harpsichordist, musicologist, and conductor of baroque opera. After graduate studies at the University of Illinois , where he wrote his dissertation on the keyboard music of Sweelinck, he studied in Amsterdam with Gustav Leonhardt, with whom he subsequently recorded...
, Steven Devine, Richard Egarr
Richard Egarr
Richard Egarr is a British keyboard performer and conductor. He received his musical training as a choirboy at York Minster, at Chetham's School of Music in Manchester, and as organ scholar at Clare College, Cambridge...
, John Eliot Gardiner
John Eliot Gardiner
Sir John Eliot Gardiner CBE FKC is an English conductor. He founded the Monteverdi Choir , the English Baroque Soloists and the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique...
, Edward Gardner
Edward Gardner (conductor)
Edward Gardner is a British conductor.Gardner sang as a chorister at Gloucester Cathedral. As a youth, he played piano, clarinet and organ. He attended the King's School, Gloucester and Eton College. At the University of Cambridge, he continued as a music student, and was a choral scholar in...
, Jane Glover
Jane Glover
Jane Glover CBE is a British-born conductor and music scholar.-Early life:Glover attended Haberdashers' Monmouth School for Girls. Her father, Robert Finlay Glover MA TD,was headmaster of Monmouth School and it was through this connection that she was able to meet Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears...
, Paul Goodwin
Paul Goodwin
Paul Goodwin is an English conductor, and former oboist.As an oboist he studied oboe with Janet Craxton and, following his graduation from the University of Nottingham with a degree in composition, specialized in contemporary oboe techniques and the baroque oboe at the Guildhall School of Music...
, Emmanuelle Haïm
Emmanuelle Haïm
Emmanuelle Haïm is a French harpsichordist and conductor with a particular interest in early music and Baroque music....
, Matthew Halls, Nikolas Harnoncourt, Edward Higginbottom, David Hill
David Hill (choral director)
David Hill , is a choral conductor and organist. His most high profile roles are as Chief Conductor of the BBC Singers from September 2007, and Musical Director of The Bach Choir from April 1998. He was previously Organist and Director of Music at St John's College, Cambridge, in succession to...
, Benedict Hoffnung, Christopher Hogwood
Christopher Hogwood
Christopher Jarvis Haley Hogwood CBE, MA , HonMusD , born 10 September 1941, Nottingham, is an English conductor, harpsichordist, writer and musicologist, well known as the founder of the Academy of Ancient Music.-Biography:...
, Peter Holman, Robert King, Nicholas Kraemer
Nicholas Kraemer
Nicholas Kraemer is a British harpsichordist and conductor. Kraemer began his career as a harpsichordist...
, Stephen Layton
Stephen Layton
Stephen Layton is an English conductor.Layton was raised in Derby, where his father was a church organist. Layton learned the piano as a youth. He was a chorister at Winchester Cathedral, and subsequently won scholarships to Eton College and then King's College, Cambridge as an organ...
, Iain Leddingham, Charles Mackerras
Charles Mackerras
Sir Alan Charles Maclaurin Mackerras, AC, CH, CBE was an Australian conductor. He was an authority on the operas of Janáček and Mozart, and the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan...
, Paul McCreesh
Paul McCreesh
Paul McCreesh is an English conductor.Paul McCreesh is founder and artistic director of the Gabrieli Consort & Players, with whom he has established himself at the highest level in the period instrument field; he is recognised for his authoritative and innovative performances on the concert...
, Kenneth Montgomery
Kenneth Montgomery
Kenneth Montgomery OBE is a British conductor, the only child of Lily and Tom Montgomery. His upbringing was in Wandsworth Parade and he attended the Royal Belfast Academical Institution. His musical studies were at the Royal College of Music...
, Lars Ulrik Mortensen
Lars Ulrik Mortensen
Lars Ulrik Mortensen is a Danish harpsichordist and conductor.He studied with Karen Englund and Jesper Bøje Christensen at The Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen and with Trevor Pinnock in London....
, Kent Nagano
Kent Nagano
__FORCETOC__Kent George Nagano is an American conductor and opera administrator. He is currently the music director of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal and the Bavarian State Opera.-Biography:...
, Donald Nally
Donald Nally
Donald Nally is an American conductor and opera chorus master, specializing in chamber choirs and new music...
, James O'Donnell
James O'Donnell (organist)
James O'Donnell, KCGS, LVO, FRCM, FRSCM, HonRAM is Organist and Master of the Choristers of Westminster Abbey, a position he has held since 2000....
, Enrico Onofri, Daniel Reuss
Daniel Reuss
Daniel Reuss is primarily known as a choral conductor.-Biography:Daniel Reuss studied with Barend Schuurman at the Rotterdam Conservatory in the Netherlands....
, Jeffrey Skidmore
Jeffrey Skidmore
Jeffrey Skidmore is the conductor and artistic director of Ex Cathedra, a choir and early music ensemble based in Birmingham in the West Midlands, England...
, Jean-Christophe Spinosi
Jean-Christophe Spinosi
Jean-Christophe Spinosi is a French conductor and violinist, the founder of Quatuor Matheus , a group that later grew into Ensemble Matheus. He is especially well-known for his interpretation of the instrumental and vocal music of the Baroque, most notably the operas of Vivaldi...
, Charles Stewart, Patrick Summers, Elizabeth Wallfisch
Elizabeth Wallfisch
Elizabeth Wallfisch is an Australian Baroque violinist.Wallfisch debuted as a concert soloist at the age of 12 and took part in such competitions as the ABC Concerto Competition. She studied at the Royal Academy of Music under Frederick Grinke and was awarded, among other prizes, the President's...
and Dominic Wheeler, and recitalists Julius Drake
Julius Drake
Julius Drake is an English pianist who works as a song recital accompanist and chamber musician.-Biography:Drake was educated at the Purcell School and the Royal College of Music; he made his professional debut at the Purcell Room in 1981 and developed a special affinity for the music of Robert...
, Mark Padmore
Mark Padmore
Mark Padmore is a British tenor appearing in concerts, recitals, and opera.Born in London 8 March 1961, and raised in Canterbury, Kent in England. Padmore studied clarinet and piano prior to his gaining a choral scholarship to King's College, Cambridge...
, Philip Langridge
Philip Langridge
Philip Gordon Langridge CBE was an English tenor, considered to be among the foremost exponents of English opera and oratorio....
and Roger Vignoles
Roger Vignoles
Roger Vignoles is a British pianist and accompanist. He regularly performs with the world’s leading singers – including Kiri Te Kanawa, Thomas Allen, Anne Sofie von Otter, Thomas Hampson, Gitta-Maria Sjøberg, Sarah Walker, Susan Graham, Felicity Lott, Stephan Genz, Monica Groop, Wolfgang Holzmair,...
.
Iestyn Davies's future engagements include a Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
recital debut, his debut at the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
to which he is re-invited for the 2012 and 2013 seasons, and his Chicago Lyric Opera debut. He will sing his first full operatic performance for La Scala in the coming season in Death in Venice. In London, he will sing the role of Oberon in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at English National Opera.
Recordings
Iestyn Davies has an extensive and growing discography including a Wigmore Live CD (2010) of a 2009 recital with his own Ensemble Guadagni and three recordings as a treble chorister.Reviews
- The Guardian (2010)
- Time Out (2010)
- The New York Times (2010)
- The Independent (2009)
- Press clippings