Justin Lavender

Justin Lavender
Born4 June 1951
OccupationOperatic tenor

Justin Lavender (born 4 June 1951) is an operatic tenor, a professor of vocal studies at the Royal College of Music and co-founder and Musical Director of Arcadian Opera.[1]

He was educated at Bedford Modern School, Queen Mary College London and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.[1] Although he initially intended to train as a nuclear engineer he was persuaded by Sir Peter Pears and Benjamin Britten to pursue a career in music.[2] Following his debut in 1980 as Nadir in Bizet's Les pêcheurs de perles at the Sydney Opera House, Lavender has performed with most of the world's major orchestras and opera companies.[2] In addition to his operatic performances, Lavender is a professor of vocal studies at the Royal College of Music, an honorary professor of the Confucius Institute at Pfeiffer University, and from 2009 to 2020 was vocal consultant to the Choir of King's College Chapel, Cambridge.[1]

In 2015 Lavender co-founded the community opera company, Arcadian Opera, which performs regularly at Stowe, Buckingham.

Operatic performances

Concert performances

  • 1988 – Schubert's Mass in E Flat (Giulini and Berlin Philharmonic)
  • 1988 – Bartók's Cantata Profana (Solti and London Philharmonic)
  • 1991 – Schnittke's Faust Cantata (Abbado and Vienna Symphony)
  • 1996 – Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius (Slatkin and Philharmonia)
  • 2001 – Schnittke's Faust Cantata (Slatkin and BBC)

Film

Recordings

  • 1983 – video of Oedipus Rex
  • 1989 – audio of La Noche Triste
  • 1991 – audio of La Favorite
  • 1993 – audio of Messiah
  • 1993 – audio of I Puritani
  • 1993 – video of Mitridate
  • 1994 – audio of The Wreckers
  • 1994 – audio of Rossini and Donizetti arias
  • 1996 – audio of Britten Song Cycles
  • 1996 – audio of Bomtempo Mattutina dei Morti
  • 1997 – audio of Mozart Arias
  • 1998 – audio of Alceste
  • 1999 – audio of War and Peace
  • 2004 – audio of Schnittke Faust Cantata
  • 2006 – audio of Elgar's Dream of Gerontius
  • 2008 – audio of Janáček Otčenas

References

  1. ^ a b c "Debrett's People of Today". Archived from the original on 11 November 2014. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  2. ^ a b "Justin Lavender". Retrieved 5 November 2014.