Nicky Spence

Last updated

Nicholas Eliot Spence OBE (born 1983) is a Scottish operatic tenor who performs in opera, oratorio and recital in both the UK and internationally.

Contents

Life and career

Spence was born and raised in Dumfries. He was educated at Wallace Hall in Thornhill where he had his first lessons with Margaret Davies aged 15 and attended Scottish Youth Theatre and the National Youth Music Theatre. [1] He was accepted to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and graduated with a Bachelor of Music in 2005. [2] After his first year, he won the Kathleen Ferrier Society Young Singers Bursary. [3]

In 2004, during his final year at Guildhall, Spence received a five-record contract with Universal Classics on the Decca label who promoted him as "The Scottish Tenor". His debut album My First Love, recorded with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, was released in 2007. [4] That same year he was nominated for the "Young British Classical Performer of the Year" Classical Brit Award. [5] During this time, he sang regularly on television and toured with Katherine Jenkins and Shirley Bassey. [6]

However, when it came time to record his second album, Spence turned his back on the recording contract to pursue a legitimate opera career. He returned to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama to study full-time in their Opera Studies course, studying there from 2007 to 2009 under John Llewelyn Evans. [1] [2] He then won a place at the National Opera Studio in 2009 where he won the Bruce Millar Gulliver Opera Prize. [7] The following year he joined the English National Opera as one of their inaugural Harewood Artists. [8]

As a Harewood Artist at ENO, Spence created the role of Brian in the world premiere of Nico Muhly's opera Two Boys in 2011. [9] Other roles at ENO have included The Novice in Billy Budd directed by David Alden, David in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg directed by Richard Jones, Steva in Jenůfa directed by David Alden , Alwa in Lulu directed by William Kentridge, and Francesco in Benvenuto Cellini directed by Terry Gilliam. [10] He was nominated for the International Opera Awards as Young Singer of the Year in 2015 and was also one of ten artists included in the Times Breakthrough Award at the South Bank Sky Arts Awards. [11] [12]

Spence's appearances in international opera houses include Brian in Two Boys (Metropolitan Opera, 2013); [13] Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni (New Zealand Opera, 2013); [14] Steva in Jenufa (La Monnaie, 2014); [15] Isacco in La gazza ladra (Oper Frankfurt, 2014); [16] Tichon in Katya Kabanova (Seattle Opera, 2017); [17] Captain Pirzel in Die Soldaten (Teatro Real, 2018); [18] and The Big Prisoner in From the House of the Dead (Opéra de Lyon, 2019) [19]

Spence was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2023 Birthday Honours for services to music. [20]

Spence will step into the role of President of ISM in April 2024, following Pauline Black. [21] In 2024 he will sing the title role in Peter Grimes for Welsh National Opera and Boris in Katya Kabanova at Glyndebourne. [22]

Personal life

Spence is a patron of Blackheath Halls and their community opera company [23] and of An Tobar and Mull Theatre, a multi art form creative hub on the Hebridean island of Mull. [24] He is also active in the charity Help Musicians UK and president of Dumfries Musical Theatre Company. [25] [11] Spence's partner is pianist Dylan Perez and the two got married on 1st January 2022. [26] [27]

Discography

Spence's recordings include:

Related Research Articles

The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a music and drama school located in the City of London, England. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz along with drama and production arts. The school has students from over seventy countries. It was ranked first in both the Guardian's 2022 League Table for Music and the Complete University Guide's 2023 Arts, Drama and Music league table. It is also ranked the fifth university in the world for performing arts in the 2024 QS World University Rankings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karita Mattila</span> Finnish operatic soprano

Karita Marjatta Mattila is a Finnish operatic soprano.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jake Heggie</span> American opera composer and pianist

Jake Heggie is an American composer of opera, vocal, orchestral, and chamber music. He is best known for his operas and art songs as well as for his collaborations with internationally renowned performers and writers.

Richard Danielpour is an American composer and academic, currently affiliated with the Curtis Institute of Music and the University of California, Los Angeles.

Jack Hamilton Beeson was an American composer. He was known particularly for his operas, the best known of which are Lizzie Borden, Hello Out There!, and The Sweet Bye and Bye.

Daniel Steven Crafts is an American composer. He was born in Detroit, Michigan, but has spent most of his life in the San Francisco Bay Area.

William L. Lewis is an American operatic tenor and academic.

William Mayer was an American composer, best known for his prize-winning opera A Death in the Family.

Louise Mott is a British mezzo-soprano.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juliette Pochin</span>

Juliette Louise B. Pochin is a Welsh classically trained mezzo-soprano singer, composer/arranger, and record producer. She is known not only for her performances in operas and as a classical recitalist but also for her recordings of operatically styled crossover music. Morgan Pochin Music Productions Ltd, the company she formed with her husband James Morgan, is known for its record productions for artists such as Katherine Jenkins and Alfie Boe, as well as its arrangements for film and television scores.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ian Venables</span> British composer

Ian Venables is a British composer of art songs and chamber music.

Roderick Gregory Coleman Williams OBE is a British baritone and composer.

Sholto Kynoch is an English pianist.

Jamie Barton is an American mezzo-soprano. She won the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition in June 2013. She is also the winner of the 2015 Richard Tucker Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Cipullo</span> American composer

Tom Cipullo is an American composer. Known mostly for vocal music, he has also composed orchestral, chamber, and solo instrumental works. His opera, Glory Denied, has been performed to critical acclaim in New York, Washington, and Texas.

Amanda Jane Roocroft is an English operatic soprano, who in the course of her career has sung leading roles in the opera houses of Europe and North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julian Philips</span> British composer (born 1969)

Julian Philips is a British composer. Philips' works have been performed at major music festivals, including The Proms, Tanglewood, Three Choirs Festival, at the Wigmore Hall, South Bank Centre and Berlin Philharmonic Chamber Music Hall and by international artists such as Gerald Finley, Dawn Upshaw, Sir Thomas Allen, the Vertavo String Quartet, the Tanglewood Festival Orchestra, the BBC orchestras and the Aurora Orchestra.

Dina Kuznetsova is an American lyric dramatic operatic soprano of Russian descent who has appeared in leading roles on the stages of international opera houses from New York to Sydney. She has focused on Italian and Slavic repertoires. Her signature roles include Tatyana in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin, Desdemona in Verdi's Otello, Cio-Cio San in Madama Butterfly by Puccini, the title role in Dvořák's Rusalka, and Kátya in Kátya Kabanová by Janáček.

Juliana Hall is an American composer of art songs, monodramas, and vocal chamber music. She has been described by the NATS Journal of Singing as "one of our country’s most able and prolific art song composers for almost three decades" and, in discussing her 1989 song cycle Syllables of Velvet, Sentences of Plush, the Journal went on to assert that "Even at this very early stage in her life and career, Hall knew something about crafting music whose beauty could enhance the text at hand without drawing attention away from that text. This is masterful writing in every respect."

Susan Bickley is a British mezzo-soprano singer who performs in opera, Baroque and contemporary classical music.

References

  1. 1 2 Brown, Annie (16 November 2012). "Nicky Spence turned back on £1m record deal to climb to top of opera profession on his own". Daily Record . Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  2. 1 2 Board of Governors, Guildhall School of Music and Drama (14 May 2012). "Principal's General Report: , p. 32. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  3. ↑ Kathleen Ferrier Society. "Kathleen Ferrier Society Bursary for Young Singers: Past Winners". Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  4. ↑ Brown, Geoff (13 January 2007). "Nicky Spence", The Times . Retrieved 1 February 2019 (subscription required).
  5. ↑ BBC News (3 May 2007). "Pop duo fight for Classical Brits". Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  6. ↑ Davies, Hugh (7 June 2006). "There's a guy works down the chip shop swears he's Pavarotti". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  7. ↑ s.n. (6 March 2014). "Bruce Millar/Gulliver Prize doubled". The Herald . Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  8. ↑ Christiansen, Rupert (16 April 2012). "ENO plans to grow its own". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  9. ↑ Woolfe, Zachary (30 June 2011). "Review: On the Internet, Nobody Knows You're a Youngster With Issues". The New York Times . Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  10. ↑ English National Opera. "Nicky Spence". Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  11. 1 2 Liptrott, Sharon (9 May 2015). "Dumfries tenor Nicky Spence shortlisted for prestigious South Bank Sky Arts Award". Daily Record . Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  12. ↑ International Opera Awards (2015). Nominees. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  13. ↑ Metropolitan Opera Archives. Two Boys. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  14. ↑ Radio New Zealand (18 August 2013). "Arts on Sunday". Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  15. ↑ Loomis, George (30 January 2014). "A Lavish and Folkloric Production of Janacek's Jenufa". The New York Times . Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  16. ↑ Forsling, Göran (November 2015). "Review: La gazza ladra, Live recording, Oehms Classics OC961". Musicweb International. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  17. ↑ May, Thomas (26 February 2017). "A searing ‘Katya Kabanova’ on the Seattle Opera stage". The Seattle Times . Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  18. ↑ Irurzun, José M. (29 May 2018). "Zimmermann’s Die Soldaten Triumphs in Its Spanish Premiere". Seen and Heard International. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  19. ↑ Valette-Pilenko, Gallia (23 January 2019). "Une Maison des morts engagée et crue à l'Opéra de Lyon". Tout Lyon Affiches. Retrieved 3 February 2019 (in French).
  20. ↑ "No. 64082". The London Gazette (Supplement). 17 June 2023. p. B15.
  21. ↑ https://www.ism.org/news/new-ism-president-and-president-elect-for-the-upcoming-years/#:~:text=Nicky%20will%20follow%20Pauline%20Black,challenges%20facing%20the%20music%20sector.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  22. ↑ "Engagements".
  23. ↑ Blackheath Halls. "Nicky Spence to join Edward Gardner as Patron of the Blackheath Halls Community Opera". Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  24. ↑ "Who We Are". An Tobar and Mull Theatre. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
  25. ↑ Help Musicians UK (23 October 2012. "'Opera Offstage' calendar launched". Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  26. ↑ "Surbiton Salons - as You Like It".
  27. ↑ @nickythespence (3 July 2020). "Six months today... I get to Marry this man! @perezalicious x" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  28. ↑ Quinn, John (October 2020). "Review: Complete Folk Songs, Vol. 1, Albion Records ALBCD042". Quinn, John (March 2021). "Review: Complete Folk Songs, Vol. 2, Albion Records ALBCD043". Quinn, John (August 2021). "Review: Complete Folk Songs, Vol. 3, Albion Records ALBCD044". Woolf, Jonathan (February 2022). "Review: Complete Folk Songs, Vol. 4, Albion Records ALBCD045".all: Musicweb International, Retrieved 26 April 2022.
  29. ↑ Duchen, Jessica (24 January 2019). "Frances-Hoad: Magic Lantern Tales". BBC Music Magazine , pp. 88–89. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  30. ↑ Bruce, Keith (17 February 2017). "Album review: Nicky Spence, Buxton Orr – Songs (Delphian)". The Herald . Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  31. ↑ Power, Steph (25 October 2018). "Fata Morgana: Songs by Pavel Haas performed by the Navarra Quartet". BBC Music Magazine . Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  32. ↑ Quinn, John (May 2017). "Review: Paradis sur Terre: A French Songbook, Chandos CHAN 10893", Musicweb International. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  33. ↑ Wiley, Richard (December 2016). "CD Reviews: Purer than Pearl". The Elgar Society Journal, Vol.19 No.6, pp. 65–66. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
  34. ↑ Whitehouse, Richard (12 May 2013). "Post-millennium Turnage in chamber and vocal mode". Gramophone . Retrieved 2 February 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.