Tim Mead

Counter-tenor Tim Mead is praised for his elegant and warm tone with faultless projection and stylish interpretations. His virtuosic performances have drawn much international attention, and he is recognised as one of the finest across the generations of counter-tenors.

Engagements in 2015/16 include Oberon in Britten A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Glyndebourne Festival Opera and at Bergen National Opera; Angel 1/Boy in the highly-anticipated U.S. stage premiere of George Benjamin’s Written on Skin at Lincoln Center, followed by an European tour of the work with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra; Arsamene in Cavalli Xerse with Le Concert d’Astrée at Opéra de Lille, Theater an der Wien, and Theatre de Caen. In May 2016, Mead will sing the leading role in Theater Basel’s new ‘Melancholia’ programme. Mead will also return to the New York Philharmonic for five performances of Messiah, tour Spain with the Gabrieli Consort, and sing Bach B Minor Mass with Les Arts Florissants and William Christie in France and Spain.

Last season’s highlights included the world premiere of Theo Loevendie’s Spinoza at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Bach B Minor Mass with the English Concert, Messiah with the Handel & Haydn Society and the Academy of Ancient Music, a solo recital in Rome, the title role in Philip Glass’s Akhnaten at Opera Vlaanderen, and the title role Riccardo Primo at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis to critical acclaim.

Recent operatic highlights include Goffredo and Eustazio Rinaldo at Glyndebourne, Endimione La Calisto at Bayerische Staatsoper, Voice of Apollo in Deborah Warner’s production of Death in Venice at English National Opera and De Nederlandse Opera, Angel 1/Boy in George Benjamin’s Written on Skin at Théâtre du Capitole Toulouse and at the Gulbenkian Lisbon and Tolomeo Julius Caesar at English National Opera. Other operatic highlights include Ottone L’incoronazione di Poppea at ENO, Opéra de Lyon, Opéra de Lille, Opéra de Dijon and Den Norske Opera, title role Giulio Cesare at Glyndebourne, title role Orlando at Scottish Opera and Chicago Opera Theater, Clearte Niobe and the world premiere of Harrison Birtwistle’s The Minotaur for the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, title role Admeto at International Händel Festspiele Göttingen and the Edinburgh International Festival, Ottone Agrippina in Lille and Dijon, Tolomeo Giulio Cesare at Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Paggio Ercole Amante at De Nederlandse Opera and in concert the title role in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice with the Akademie für Alte Musik, Andronico Tamerlano with Les Musiciens du Louvre Grenoble, Rinaldo with Bach Collegium Japan and Bertarido Rodelinda with Mercury Baroque.

On the concert platform Tim Mead has sung Messiah with the New York Philharmonic, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Academy of Ancient Music, Le Concert d’Astree, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai, Accademia Bizantina and Concerto Köln, Bach Christmas Oratorio with Les Arts Florissants, Bach Magnificat with Le Concert d’Astree, Bach St Matthew Passion with London Handel Festival and De Nederlandse Bachvereniging, Bach B Minor Mass with Arcangelo, Handel Theodora with the English Concert, Handel Solomon with Akademie für Alte Musik, Handel Judas Maccabaeus with the OAE, Handel Saul with the Dresdner Barockorchester, Handel Joseph and his Brethren at the International Händel Festspiele Göttingen, Handel Susanna with the Early Opera Company, Handel Esther with the Dunedin Consort and Dusapin La Melancholia with the SWR Sinfonieorchester. He has worked with such leading conductors as Ivor Bolton, John Butt, William Christie, Harry Christophers, Laurence Cummings, Christian Curnyn, Alan Curtis, Ottavio Dantone, Jane Glover, Paul Goodwin, Emmanuelle Haïm, Vladimir Jurowski, Raymond Leppard, Paul McCreesh, Nicholas McGegan, Marc Minkowski and Masaaki Suzuki.

Mead’s already substantial discography includes Bach St Matthew Passion and B Minor Mass, the Handel oratorios Messiah, Saul, Solomon, Israel in Egypt, and The Triumph of Time and Truth, the Handel operas Admeto, Flavio, Riccardo Primo and Rinaldo, and Monteverdi L’incoronazione di Poppea. He has recorded for EMI Classics, Erato, Harmonia Mundi, Hyperion, Opus Arte, Chandos, Linn Records amongst others.

Mead read Music as a choral scholar at King’s College, Cambridge, before winning a number of scholarships to continue his vocal studies at the Royal College of Music.