Benedict Nelson Baritone
Recipient of INDEPENDENT OPERA Postgraduate Voice Fellowship (Guildhall School of Music & Drama)
Hailed by Rupert Christiansen in the Daily Telegraph’s “Opera Highlights of 2009” as Best Newcomer, Benedict Nelson studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the National Opera Studio.In 2007 he won second prize at the Kathleen Ferrier Awards and the Guildhall Gold Medal.
Benedict‘s considerable number of operatic roles include Aeneas (Dido and Aeneas), Count Almaviva and Figaro (Le Nozze di Figaro), Masetto and Don Giovanni (Don Giovanni), Marcello (La Bohème), Demetrius (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Sid (Albert Herring), Morales (Carmen) and Tarquinius and Junius (Rape of Lucretia). Highlights of the 2009-10 season included Ping (Turandot) at ENO, The Tender Land at Opéra de Lyon and the world premiere of The Lion’s Face at the Linbury Studio, ROH.
A protegée of Sir Thomas Allen and a Samling scholar, Benedict is equally enthusiastic about orchestral repertoire and recently made his debut with the CBSO under Andris Nelsons singing Mozart’s Requiem and also made his BBC Symphony Orchestra debut under Jiří Bělohlávek singing Brahms’ Requiem. He has performed under conductors including Sir Neville Marriner, David Parry, Bernard Labadie and Thomas Zehetmair. Other performances include his debut recital at the Cheltenham Festival, Britten at Snape Maltings with Malcolm Martineau (recorded in 2010), Silvano (Un Ballo in Maschera) for Opera Holland Park, concerts with the Classical Opera Company and Messiah at St-Martin-in-the-Fields.
At the start of the 10-11 season Benedict sang an acclaimed Valentin in a new production of Gounod’s Faust for ENO. Other engagements this season include Demetrius (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) for ENO, Tarquinius (Rape of Lucretia) for Anger-Nantes, Brahms’ Requiem in Cardiff and his Royal Philharmonic Orchestra debut. Beyond this season, Benedict’s engagements include major roles for English National Opera, and concerts with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, the RTÉ and Ulster Orchestras and the Basel Chamber Orchestra.
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