British counter-tenor Tim Mead is praised for the warmth of his voice and the virtuosity and stylistic elegance of his singing. He read Music as a choral scholar at King’s College, Cambridge, before winning a number of scholarships to continue his vocal studies at the Royal College of Music.

Most recently he earned critical acclaim as the Voice of Apollo in Deborah Warner’s production of Death in Venice at English National Opera and De Nederlandse Opera, Angel 1/Boy in George Benjamin’s Written on Skin at Théâtre du Capitole Toulouse, Tolomeo Julius Caesar at English National Opera and Eustazio Rinaldo at Glyndebourne Festival Opera. Other operatic highlights include Ottone L’incoronazione di Poppea at ENO, Opéra de Lyon, Opéra de Lille, Opéra de Dijon and Den Norske Opera, title role Giulio Cesare at Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Endimione La Calisto at the Bayerische Staatsoper, title role Orlando at Scottish Opera and Chicago Opera Theater, Clearte Niobe and the world premiere of Harrison Birtwistle’s The Minotaur for the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, title role Admeto at International Händel Festspiele Göttingen and the Edinburgh International Festival, Ottone Agrippina in Lille and Dijon, Tolomeo Giulio Cesare at Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Paggio Ercole Amante at De Nederlandse Opera and in concert the title role in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice with the Akademie für Alte Musik, Andronico Tamerlano with Les Musiciens du Louvre Grenoble, Rinaldo with Bach Collegium Japan and Bertarido Rodelinda with Mercury Baroque.

On the concert platform Tim Mead has sung Messiah with the New York Philharmonic, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai, Accademia Bizantina and Concerto Köln, Bach Christmas Oratorio with Les Arts Florissants, Bach Magnificat with Le Concert d’Astree, BachSt Matthew Passion with London Handel Festival and De Nederlandse Bachvereniging, Handel Solomon with Akademie für Alte Musik, Handel Judas Maccabaeus with the OAE, Handel Saul with the Dresdner Barockorchester, Handel Joseph and his Brethren at the International Händel Festspiele Göttingen, Handel Susanna with the Early Opera Company, Handel Esther with the Dunedin Consort and Dusapin La Melancholia with the SWR Sinfonieorchester. He has worked with such leading conductors as Ivor Bolton, William Christie, Laurence Cummings, Christian Curnyn, Alan Curtis, Ottavio Dantone, Paul Goodwin, Emmanuelle Haïm, Vladimir Jurowski, Nicholas McGegan, Marc Minkowski and Masaaki Suzuki.

Mead’s already substantial discography includes Bach St Matthew Passion, the Handel oratorios Saul, Solomon and Israel in Egypt, the Handel operas Admeto,Flavio, Riccardo Primo and Rinaldo, and Monteverdi L’incoronazione di Poppea. He has recorded for EMI Classics, Harmonia Mundi, Opus Arte, Chandos, Linn Records amongst others.

Engagements in 13/14 season include Endimione La Calisto at Bayerische Staatsoper, Goffredo Rinaldo at Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Written on Skin at the Gulbenkian Lisbon and a recording with Les Arts Florissants. In concert he performs Bach B minor Mass and Monteverdi madrigals with Arcangelo, Theodorawith English Concert, St Matthew Passion with De Nederlandse Bachvereniging,Messiah with Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Le Concert d’Astree, a solo recital with La Nuova Musica at the London Handel Festival, and Britten Canticlesat the Wigmore Hall. In future seasons he will also sing Oberon A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a world premiere at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, debut at the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and a solo recital in Rome.

© Tim Mead