Michael Colvin, tenor

"it's all there, technique, tone and stage presence"
Opera Magazine (UK)

Hailed in Opera News as "one of the most beautiful young lyric tenor instruments around" and "a perfect model of the 'bel canto' style of singing" (Sun Newspaper), Irish-Canadian tenor Michael Colvin has appeared to critical acclaim on opera and concert stages throughout Canada, the USA, UK and Europe. A specialist in works by Handel, Mozart, Rossini, Donizetti and Britten, Michael has worked with some of the world's best known conductors including Helmut Rilling, Nicholas McGegan, Harry Bicket, Edward Gardner, Paul Daniel, Jane Glover, Trevor Pinnock, David Parry, Bramwell Tovey, Pinchas Zuckerman and the late Richard Bradshaw and opera directors including David Alden, Tim Albery, James Robinson, Leon Major and the late Colin Graham.

Michael's 2008-09 season features an exciting mix of debuts and important return engagements including his Minnesota Opera debut as Belmonte in Die Entführung aus dem Serail and a return to English National Opera as Bob Boles in David Alden’s new production of Peter Grimes conducted by Edward Gardner. Concert highlights this season include his Northern Sinfonia (UK) debut in Haydn's Harmoniemesse and Beethoven 9 under Thomas Zehetmair at the Sage Gateshead and on tour to the 2009 Hong Kong Arts Festival, Mozart's Requiem with Pinchas Zuckerman and the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Beethoven 9 with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Messiah with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Haydn's Creation with the Rochester Philharmonic and Vivaldi's Dixit Dominus for the National Ballet of Canada.

Recent operatic roles include Ferrando Così Fan Tutte Canadian Opera Company, Ramiro La Cenerentola Portland Opera, Don Ottavio Chicago Opera Theater, Normanno Lucia di Lammermoor ENO and his critically acclaimed UK opera debut as Rodrigo di Dhu La Donna del Lago Garsington Opera. Other engagements include Almaviva The Barber of Seville Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Belmonte Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Belfiore Il Viaggio a Reims, Rape of Lucretia and Semele for Chicago Opera Theater, Canadian Opera Company's Rodelinda conducted by Harry Bicket, his role debut as Argirio opposite Ewa Podles in the Canadian Opera Company’s Tancredi, Shepherd Oedipus Rex Edinburgh International Festival, Belfiore Il Viaggio a Reims Portland Opera, Tamino The Magic Flute Manitoba Opera and L’Italiana in Algeri with Opera Festival of New Jersey. For the COC he has sung in L’Italiana in Algeri, Il Viaggio a Reims, Don Giovanni and The Barber of Seville. Other credits include a big-screen debut as Don Ottavio in the internationally acclaimed film Don Giovanni Unmasked alongside baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky and recordings on the NAXOS, CBC and Warner Music labels.

On the concert platform Michael has sung Mozart's Requiem for Chicago’s Grant Park Festival, Toronto Symphony Orchestra and National Arts Centre Orchestra, Handel’s Messiah and Bach's Weihnachtsoratorium with Nicholas McGegan and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Messiah with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra / Glover, National Arts Centre Orchestra / Pinnock and Rochester Philharmonic, Schubert’s Mass in A flat with Helmut Rilling and Festival Vancouver, Beethoven 9 with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, l’Orchestre symphonique de Quebec, Elora Festival and Festival de Lanuadière, Haydn's Die Schöpfung, Verdi’s Requiem and Elgar's Dream of Gerontius for the Elora Festival, Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings with Richard Bradshaw and the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra, Dvorak's Stabat Mater with Andrey Boreyko and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and Vaughan Williams’ On Wenlock Edge, Mendelssohn's Elijah with the Ulster Orchestra in Belfast, and Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde for the National Ballet of Canada. Recital highlights include Brahms’ Liebeslieder Walzer for CBC Radio, Schubert's Die Schöne Mullerin at Toronto's Glenn Gould Studio as well as regular appearances with Toronto’s Aldeburgh Connection and Off Centre Music Salon.

Born in Ballymena, Northern Ireland and raised in Toronto, Canada, Michael was trained at the Canadian Opera Company's Ensemble Studio, the Britten-Pears School in Aldeburgh, England and Canada’s Banff Centre for the Arts. He has been the recipient of numerous awards and scholarships, most notably the Canadian Opera Foundation Award and a Chalmers Performing Arts Award. Michael makes his home in Toronto, Canada.

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