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SIMON KIRKBRIDE

Bass-baritone

full biography | reviews | photo


"The vocal plum of the men was Simon Kirkbride's Bartolo…he sings beautifully…"
- Opera Now


Simon Kirkbride studied at the Royal College of Music; upon graduation he was awarded The Presidents Rose Bowl, the highest award given to a student by the RCM.

Simon Kirkbride made his operatic debut in 1997 singing Publio La clemenza di Tito (Welsh National Opera/Mackerras). Opera roles include Morales Carmen (Scottish Opera), Figaro Le nozze di Figaro (Glyndebourne Touring Opera), Thaddeus in the premiere of Birtwistle's The Last Supper (Staatsoper Berlin/Barenboim, and Glyndebourne), Priest of Jupiter Hercules, (Les Arts Florissants/Christie in Aix-en-Provence, New York, Vienna and London), Ratcliffe in the world premiere of Battistelli's Richard III (Vlaamse Opera), Musiklehrer Ariadne auf Naxos (Norske Opera), as well as Leporello Don Giovanni, Mr Redburn Billy Budd, Count Almaviva Le nozze di Figaro, Don Alfonso Così fan tutte, Zuniga Carmen, Garibaldo Rodelinda and Bartolo Il barbiere di Siviglia.

Recent performances include Starveling A Midsummer Night's Dream for Glyndebourne, Voice of Neptune Idomeneo for Les Arts Florissants in Paris and New York, Dr Bartolo Le nozze di Figaro conducted by Daniel Harding at the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence and Theseus A Midsummer Night's Dream for Opéra de Lyon.

On the concert platform Simon has sung most of the major works of Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Britten, Elgar, Walton, Mendelssohn and Beethoven, and has performed with London Philharmonic, Les Arts Florissants, Le Concert d'Astrée, The King's Consort, Florilegium, London Symphony Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, Norwegian Baroque Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra and London Baroque.

Recent and future highlights include Theseus A Midsummer Night's Dream in Athens, Sprecher Die Zauberflöte for Glyndebourne, Nazarene Salome and Hobson Peter Grimes for Grand Théâtre de Genève, Thaddeus in concert performances of The Last Supper in Milan and Turin, Bach's St Matthew Passion with Collegium Vocale Gent and Philippe Herreweghe, Mozart's Mass in C minor with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, Bach's Mass in B minor with Nicholas Kraemer in Norway, Handel's Theodora with Paul McCreesh and the Gabrieli Consort & Players, and Handel's Alexander's Feast with the Ulster Orchestra.

This short biography is for information only and should not be reproduced. Please download a full biography here.