Richard Edgar-Wilson is an English tenor who has had an international career on the concert platform and the opera stage. He is particularly known for his

oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is mus ...

work, especially as a Bach Evangelist and as an interpreter of the music of Benjamin Britten.

Life and career

Richard Wilson (he changed his name on joining Equity to prevent any possible confusion with the well-known Scottish actor) was born in Ipswich, Suffolk. He attended

Ipswich School Ipswich School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) for pupils aged 3 to 18 in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. North of the town centre, Ipswich School has four parts on three adjacent sites. The Pre-Prep and Nurser ...

and

Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 170 graduate students. The college was founded by William Byngham in 1437 as ...

, where he was a choral scholar and read History. He later won a postgraduate scholarship to the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...

where he studied with Edward Brooks and Alasdair Graham. Early singing engagements included concerts and recordings with the

Consort of Musicke The Consort of Musicke is a British early-music group, founded in 1969 by lutenist Anthony Rooley, the ensemble's Artistic Director. Members of the group have included such well-known artists as sopranos Emma Kirkby and Evelyn Tubb, alto Mary Nich ...

, the

Tallis Scholars The Tallis Scholars is a British professional early music vocal ensemble normally consisting of two singers per part, with a core group of ten singers. They specialise in performing ''a cappella'' Religious music, sacred vocal music. History The ...

, the Deller Consort, Combattimento and the Scholars. Since 1989 when he began working exclusively as a soloist he has sung in over thirty countries collaborating with many conductors including Sir Roger Norrington, Trevor Pinnock, Raymond Leppard, Sir Neville Marriner, Thierry Fischer,

Jeffrey Tate Sir Jeffrey Philip Tate (28 April 19432 June 2017) was an English conductor of classical music. Tate was born with spina bifida and had an associated spinal curvature. After studying medicine at the University of Cambridge and beginning a me ...

, Philippe Herreweghe and Sir Charles Mackerras and with orchestras such as

Academy of St Martin in the Fields The Academy of St Martin in the Fields (ASMF) is an English chamber orchestra, based in London. John Churchill, then Master of Music at the London church of St Martin-in-the-Fields, and Neville Marriner founded the orchestra as "The Academ ...

Le Concert Spirituel Le Concert Spirituel is a French ensemble specialising in works of baroque music, played on period instruments. Founded by Hervé Niquet in 1987, it is named after the 18th-century concert series Concert Spirituel. The group performs internatio ...

Scottish Chamber Orchestra The Scottish Chamber Orchestra (SCO) is an Edinburgh-based UK chamber orchestra. One of Scotland's five National Performing Arts Companies, the SCO performs throughout Scotland, including annual tours of the Scottish Highlands and Islands and ...

, CBSO,

English Chamber Orchestra The English Chamber Orchestra (ECO) is a British chamber orchestra based in London. The full orchestra regularly plays concerts at Cadogan Hall, and their ensemble performs at Wigmore Hall. The orchestra regularly tours in the UK and internation ...

Les Musiciens du Louvre Les Musiciens du Louvre (literally ''The Musicians of the Louvre'') is a French period instrument ensemble, formed in 1982. Originally based in Paris, since 1996 it has been based in the Couvent des Minimes in Grenoble. ''The Guardian'' considers ...

and the

Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (OAE) is a British period instrument orchestra. The OAE is a resident orchestra of the Southbank Centre, London, associate orchestra at Glyndebourne Festival Opera Artistic Associate at Kings Place, and ...

. Opera appearances include Acis (Canada and London), Tamino (Portugal and New Zealand), Don Ottavio (Lisbon), Thespis/Mercure (Platée) at the Palais Garnier, Gonsalve (L’Heure Espagnole) for

Grange Park Opera Grange Park Opera is a professional opera company and charity whose base is West Horsley Place in Surrey, England. Founded in 1998, the company staged an annual opera festival at The Grange, in Hampshire and in 2016–7, built a new opera ho ...

and Death in Venice for ENO, La Monnaie, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and La Scala, Milan. In recital, Edgar-Wilson has performed with Graham Johnson and the Songmakers' Almanac, and with

Malcolm Martineau Malcolm Martineau, OBE (born 3 February 1960) is a Scottish pianist who is particularly noted as an accompanist. Life Martineau was born to the pianist Hester Dickson Martineau and Canon George Martineau in 1960. He was an only child but he had ...

, Eugene Asti, Iain Burnside,

Roger Vignoles Roger Vignoles (born 12 July 1945), 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 Sjöberg, Sarah Walker, ...

and Julius Drake. He won a Gramophone Award for Stradella San Giovanni Battista with Les Musiciens du Louvre/Minkowski and his many solo recordings include Coates Songs with Sir Thomas Allen and the BBC Concert Orchestra, ''Messiah'', Mozart ''Requiem'', ''Die Schöne Müllerin'', and works by Arne, Monteverdi, Bach, Purcell, Boyce, Howard Blake and

Bernard Herrmann Bernard Herrmann (born Maximillian Herman; June 29, 1911December 24, 1975) was an American composer and conductor best known for his work in composing for films. As a conductor, he championed the music of lesser-known composers. He is widely re ...

amongst many others. Film and television work includes Beauty in the world premiere of Gerald Barry’s ''The Triumph of Beauty and Deceit'' for Channel 4 TV and Radames in the award winning Norwegian feature film ''

Suffløsen ''The Prompter'' () is a 1999 Norwegian film directed by Hilde Heier. It was Norway's official Best Foreign Language Film submission at the 72nd Academy Awards The 72nd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts an ...

''. Richard Edgar-Wilson is married to Dr Jennifer Barnes, Pro-Vice Chancellor (International Strategy) at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

and President of Murray Edwards College. They have a son and a daughter.

Select discography

* Arne: ''Artaxerxes'', with the Parley of Instruments, conducted by

Roy Goodman Roy Goodman (born 26 January 1951) is an English conductor and violinist, specialising in the performance and direction of early music. He became internationally famous as the 12-year-old boy treble soloist in the March 1963 recording of Alleg ...

, (Hyperion) * Boyce: ''Ode for Saint Cecilia's Day / David's Lamentation over Saul and Jonathan'', with the

Hanover Band The Hanover Band is a British orchestra specialised in historically informed performance, founded by its artistic director, Caroline Brown. The group's website explains the name thus: '' 'Hanover' signifies the Hanoverian period 1714-1830 and ' ...

and the Choir of New College, Oxford, conducted by Graham Lea-Cox (Gaudeamus) * Eric Coates: ''Songs'' accompanied by Eugene Asti – pianoforte (Marco Polo) *

: ''Moby Dick'', with the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Concert Chorus, conducted by Michael Schønwandt (Chandos) * Purcell: ''Dioclesian'' with The English Concert, conducted by

Trevor Pinnock Trevor David Pinnock (born 16 December 1946 in Canterbury, England) is a British harpsichordist and conductor. He is best known for his association with the period-performance orchestra The English Concert, which he helped found and directed ...

(Deutsche Grammophon Archiv) * Stradella: ''San Giovanni Battista''. Les Musiciens du Louvre, conducted by Marc Minkowski (Erato) * Vaughan Williams: ''On Wenlock Edge'', accompanied by the Coull String Quartet with

James Lisney James Lisney (born 6 May 1962) is a British concert pianist. He studied with Phyllis Sellick and John Barstow – and early success was achieved after he gained representation by the Young Concert Artists Trust. He has gained particular distincti ...

– pianoforte (SOMM)

References

External links

Personal website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edgar-Wilson, Richard Living people English operatic tenors Alumni of the Royal College of Music 21st-century British male opera singers Musicians from Ipswich British performers of early music Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century British male opera singers