Christopher Gillett

Most recent and forthcoming engagements of British tenor Christopher Gillett include TRIQUET Eugene Onegin Scottish Opera‚ HENRI CLERVAL Frankenstein and BEADLE BAMFORD Sweeney Todd La Monnaie and Bergen Opera, RED WHISKERS Billy Budd Teatro Real Madrid, Opera di Roma and Royal Opera House Covent Garden‚ BARDOLFO Falstaff Grange Festival and SNOUT A Midsummer Night’s Dream Opera Zuid, Festival d’Aix en Provence and Beijing Music Festival.

Other important recent appearances have included REV. HORACE ADAMS Peter Grimes Teatro alla Scala and Aldeburgh Festival‚ VALZACCHI Der Rosenkavalier Glyndebourne Festival‚ EMPEROR Turandot Northern Ireland Opera‚ MR LOVELACE A Harlot’s Progress (world premiere) Theater an der Wien‚ CURA Il Postino (world premiere), ARNALTA L’Incoronazione di Poppea and BASILIO Le nozze di Figaro Los Angeles Opera‚ FLUTE A Midsummer Night’s Dream Teatro alla Scala‚ SELLEM The Rake’s Progress Birmingham Symphony‚ NUTRICE Poppea Dutch National Opera Amsterdam and PISANDRO Il Ritorno d’Ulisse Amsterdam‚ Antwerp‚ Lisbon‚ Sydney and New York.

Christopher made his Covent Garden debut in 1984 and has sung many roles for the Royal Opera House‚ English National Opera and Glyndebourne Touring Opera. He has performed extensively abroad‚ particularly for the Dutch National Opera. Christopher’s many operatic world premieres include Rosa‚ a horse opera‚ Broken Strings/Snatched by the Gods‚ Gassir the hero‚ Alice Dutch National Opera‚ A King Riding La Monnaie and TEA Suntory Hall‚ Tokyo. He has performed in national premieres of Die Soldaten English National Opera‚ Die Wände Oper Frankfurt‚ Nyman’s Noises‚ Sounds and Sweet Airs Tokyo and What Next? London Sinfonietta. Other 20th century roles include DOV The Knot Garden Royal Opera House Cpvent Garden‚ ASCHENBACH Death in Venice Teatro Carlo Felice Genova‚ and TONI Elegy for Young Lovers Dutch National Opera. Baroque performances include Scarlatti’s Il Telemaco Opéra de Nice‚ Provenzale’s La Stellidaura Vendicante La Monnaie and La Didone Lausanne and Montpellier.

Christopher is a noted interpreter of Bach and has sung the Evangelist in the Bach Choir’s annual performances of St Matthew Passion at the Royal Festival Hall and the Birmingham Symphony Hall many times‚ as well as for London Mozart Players‚ King’s College Choir in Cambridge and at Cadogan Hall. In concerts he also appeared in concerts at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, the BBC Proms, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Berlin Rundfunkorchester, the Cleveland Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Northern Symphonia, the English Concert, the Tokyo Symphony, and others.

On CD/DVD‚ Christopher recorded the title roles of Albert Herring and The Martyrdom of St Magnus‚ as well as roles in Billy Budd‚ The Beggar’s Opera‚ Peter Grimes‚ A Midsummer Night’s Dream‚ King Priam‚ Il Ritorno d’Ulissse in Patria‚ and operas by Oliver Knussen and Tan Dun. He has filmed Britten’s The Journey of the Magi with Pierre Audi‚ was invited to direct A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the University of Illinois and has written the book Who’s My Bottom?.