Steve Davislim (born 1967) is a Malaysian-born Australian

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libre ...

tic

tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors i ...

. He is of Chinese and Irish ancestry and is based in Vienna, Austria.

Biography

He was born Steven Lim in George Town, Penang, Malaysia, in 1967. His father David Lim is of Chinese ancestry, his parents having settled in Penang from China before World War II. David Lim met his Irish wife Joyce Davis, a nurse, while studying at the Royal College of Surgeons in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

in the 1950s and 60s. They returned to Penang after marrying. Soon after Steve's birth, the family moved to Australia, firstly to

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

, then to

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...

. It was there that the young Steve Lim joined both his parents' names to create the name Davislim.The Star
Retrieved 20 September 2014 Davislim worked as a horn player in brass groups and orchestras for eight years while studying for his Bachelor of Music at the Victorian College of the Arts. While there, he commenced vocal studies under Dame Joan Hammond,AllMusic
Retrieved 20 September 2014 and graduated with honours. He sang with the Victoria State Opera for three years. At the 1988 Melbourne Spoleto Fringe Festival, he made his debut with the Treason of Images theatre company as Jove and Sylvia in '' La Calisto'' by

Francesco Cavalli Francesco Cavalli (born Pietro Francesco Caletti-Bruni; 14 February 1602 – 14 January 1676) was a Venetian composer, organist and singer of the early Baroque period. He succeeded his teacher Claudio Monteverdi as the dominant and leading oper ...

. After gaining an overseas study grant from the Australia Council, he undertook studies in Italy, Greece (with John Modenos), Germany and Switzerland, where he spent two years studying

Lied In Western classical music tradition, (, plural ; , plural , ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music to create a piece of polyphonic music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German, but among English and French sp ...

er interpretation with the accompanist

Irwin Gage Irwin Gage (September 4, 1939 – April 12, 2018) was an American pianist, specializing in accompanying Lieder. Biography Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Gage studied piano, musicology and literature at the University of Michigan and Yale, and later wi ...

at the International Opera Studio of the

Zurich University of the Arts Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK, german: Zürcher Hochschule der Künste) has approximately 2,500 students, which makes it the largest arts university in Switzerland. The university was established in 2007, following the merger between Zurich ...

. His other studies included masterclasses with

Gösta Winbergh Gösta Winbergh (30 December 1943 – 18 March 2002) was a Swedish tenor. Early life Winbergh was born in Stockholm. There was no musical tradition in Winbergh's family. He himself was a building engineer when he watched his first opera perform ...

, Neil Shicoff,

Ileana Cotrubaș Ileana Cotrubaș (; born 9 June 1939) is a Romanian operatic soprano whose career spanned from the 1960s to the 1980s. She was much admired for her acting skills and facility for singing opera in many different languages. Life and career Cotrub ...

and Luigi Alva. Davislim became a member of the Zurich Opera in 1994. His roles there included Count Almaviva in Rossini's '' The Barber of Seville'', Achilles in Offenbach's '' La belle Hélène'', Tamino in

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

's '' The Magic Flute'', Ferrando in '' Così fan tutte'', Don Ottavio in '' Don Giovanni'', Camille in Lehár's '' The Merry Widow'', and Gonsalvo in Ravel's '' L'heure espagnole''. He has also appeared at the

Salzburg Festival The Salzburg Festival (german: Salzburger Festspiele) is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer (for five weeks starting in late July) in the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Ama ...

, the Hamburg Opera, the

Berlin Staatsoper The (), also known as the Berlin State Opera (german: Staatsoper Berlin), is a listed building on Unter den Linden boulevard in the Mitte (locality), historic center of Berlin, Germany. The opera house was built by order of Prussian king Frederi ...

, and the Mozart Festival Schönbrunn, Vienna. He made his debut at the Chicago Lyric Opera in 2005. He attracted much positive attention in December 2005 with his performance in the title role of Mozart's '' Idomeneo'' at the season opening of La Scala in Milan. In 2007 he sang the lead role in the world premiere of '' Teneke'', an opera set in 20th-century Turkey, written by the Italian composer Fabio Vacchi.Robin Usher, ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territo ...

''
"A tenor on top of the world"
30 October 2007. Retrieved 20 September 2014 He participated in the recording of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the Tonhalle Orchester Zürich, part of that group's prize-winning complete Beethoven symphony recording on the Ars Nova label. His other discography includes Mozart's '' Requiem'' with Christian Thielemann,

Bach cantata The cantatas composed by Johann Sebastian Bach, known as Bach cantatas ( German: ), are a body of work consisting of over 200 surviving independent works, and at least several dozen that are considered lost. As far as known, Bach's earliest ca ...

s with Sir John Eliot Gardiner,

Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, and violinist. Considered a leading composer of the late Romantic music, Romantic and early Modernism (music), modern eras, he has been descr ...

orchestral lieder under Simone Young, Martinů's '' Julietta'' under Sir Charles Mackerras, and Michael Tippett's '' A Child of Our Time'' with Sir Colin Davis and the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

. In 2007 he participated, along with an all-Australian cast, in the world premiere recordings of two works by

Camille Saint-Saëns Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (; 9 October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Second Piano Concerto ...

: the opera '' Hélène'' (written for Davislim's Australian operatic forebear

Nellie Melba Dame Nellie Melba (born Helen Porter Mitchell; 19 May 186123 February 1931) was an Australian operatic dramatic coloratura soprano (three octaves). She became one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian era and the early 20th century ...

), and the cantata ''Nuit persane'', both with Orchestra Victoria conducted by

Guillaume Tourniaire Guillaume may refer to: People * Guillaume (given name), the French equivalent of William * Guillaume (surname) Other uses * Guillaume (crater) See also * '' Chanson de Guillaume'', an 11th or 12th century poem * Guillaume affair, a Cold War espi ...

. He is a frequent concert singer, appearing with the Chicago Symphony, the BBC Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony, the Royal Danish Orchestra, and the Cleveland Orchestra. His appearances at the

BBC Proms The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Ha ...

include Schumann's ''

Scenes from Goethe's Faust ''Scenes from Goethe's Faust'' (''Szenen aus Goethes Faust'') is a musical-theatrical work by composer Robert Schumann. The work has been described as the height of his accomplishments in the realm of dramatic music.John Daverio: "Schumann, Rober ...

'' (1999),

Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sym ...

's Symphony No. 2 'Lobgesang' (2009), and Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 'Choral' (2014; under Alan Gilbert (deputising for an indisposed

Riccardo Chailly Riccardo Chailly (, ; born 20 February 1953) is an Italian conductor. He is currently music director of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, since 2016, and music director of La Scala, since 2017. Prior to this, he held chief conducting position ...

).BBC Proms Archive: Steve Davislim
Retrieved 20 September 2014 He has also made numerous live and broadcast appearances with the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

Selected recordings

''Concerto for violin N° 1, Symphony N° 3 "Chant de la nuit",'' Christian Tetzlaff, violin, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Singverein Chorus, Steve Davislim, ténor, conducted by

Pierre Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 1925 – 5 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war Western classical music. Born in Mon ...

. CD Deutsche Grammophon 2009 & 2010. Diapason d'or of the year 2011

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Davislim, Steve 1967 births Living people Australian operatic tenors Malaysian emigrants to Australia Singers from Melbourne People who lost Malaysian citizenship 20th-century Australian male opera singers 21st-century Australian male opera singers