Iestyn Davies

Praised as having “one of the most glorious counter-tenor voices in the world today” by the Independent and called “superb” by the New York Times, Iestyn Davies confirmed his status as one of the world’s rising stars of the international music scene in winning the Young Artist prize at the Royal Philharmonic Society Awards, 2010.   After graduating in Archaeology and Anthropology from St John’s College, Cambridge, he gained a DipRAM and was awarded ARAM from the Royal Academy of Music, London.   A versatile countertenor equally at home on both the opera and concert stage, Iestyn has sung the roles of Ottone (L'incoronazione di Poppea’Monteverdi) for Zürich Opera and Glyndebourne Festival Opera; Arsace (Partenope/Handel) for New York City Opera; Oberon (A Midsummer Night’s Dream/Britten) for Houston Grand Opera; Apollo (Death in Venice/Britten) for English National Opera and Hamor (Jephtha/Handel) for Welsh National Opera and Opera National de Bordeaux.   Performing across the world, Iestyn has made appearances in concert at Teatro alla Scala, Milan with Dudamel, the Concertgebouw and Tonhalle with Koopman, the Barbican, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Lincoln Centre and at the Royal Albert Hall in the BBC Proms. He has worked with many of the leading orchestras including the OAE, AAM, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, London Philharmonic, Britten Sinfonia, Concerto Köln, Concerto Copenhagen, Ensemble Matheus and Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.   Future operatic and concert engagements see Iestyn making his double New York debuts in recital at the Carnegie Hall and the Metropolitan Opera where he is scheduled to return in 2012 and 2013. In Chicago he will debut at the Lyric Opera in Handel’s Rinaldo. He will debut at La Scala, Milan in the coming season in Britten’s Death in Venice and in the UK he will sing the role of Creonte (Niobe/Steffani) at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and Oberon (A Midsummer Night’s Dream/Britten) at English National Opera. He continues to enjoy a successful relationship with the Wigmore Hall where he made his debut solo recording on the Wigmore Live label, with regular recitals and concerts in the coming few seasons.   Increasingly in demand as a recording artist, Iestyn's available discs include two versions of Handel’s Messiah (New College Oxford, AAM/Naxos and Polyphony, Britten Sinfonia/Hyperion), Griselda by Vivaldi for Naïve, Lukaswzewski’s Via Crucis and Handel’s Chandos Anthems on Hyperion, Handel’s Flavio for Chandos with The Early Opera Company and Christian Curnyn, Bach’s Easter Oratorio with Retrospect Ensemble and Live at the Wigmore Hall with his own Ensemble Guadagni.   On DVD Iestyn can be seen singing Ottone (L’incoronazione di Poppea) for Glyndebourne Festival Opera under Emmanuelle Haïm on DECCA and on Opus Arte as the Spirit in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas for the Royal Opera House with Hogwood.