Iestyn Davies

Although he specializes in baroque singing, countertenor Iestyn Davies MBE FRAM – born in York, England on September 16, 1979 - has an extensive repertoire that he has developed throughout the world. When he was young, he studied piano and recorder with his father Ioan Davies, who was a member of the Fitzwilliam Quartet. At the age of eight, Iestyn Davies joined Cambridge’s St. John’s College choir as a soprano, eventually learning to sing countertenor while attending Wells Cathedral School. In 2004, he won the Audience Prize at the London Handel Singing Competition and then was named the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Young Artist of the Year in 2010. He rose to prominence after making his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 2011, being invited to perform at La Scala in Milan, Italy, the Glyndebourne Festival, and the New York City Opera. In 2012, he was made a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music (FRAM). Iestyn Davies has worked with renowned conductors such as Rinaldo Alessandrini, Ton Koopman, John Eliot Gardiner, Harry Bicket, Frans Brüggen, Harry Christophers, Stephen Cleobury, Alan Curtis, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Christopher Hogwood, and Stephen Layton. In 2017, he performed the title role in the play Farinelli and the King at the Belasco Theater, New York, before taking it to the West End in London, England. That same year, he was admitted to the rank of Member of the British Empire (MBE). Iestyn Davies’ recording career began with Vivaldi: Griselda (2006), and also includes Handel: Messiah (2009), Handel: Nine German Arias (2011), Arias for Guadagni (2012), Britten: The Five Canticles (2013), Handel: Your Tuneful Voice (2014), Flow My Tears: Songs for Lute, Viol, & Voice (2015), J.C. Bach: Ach dass ich Wassers g’nug hätte (Lamento) (2019), Schubert: Die Schöne Mullerin (2022), and Handel: Eternal Heaven (2022), which also featured Lea Desandre, Thomas Dunford and his Jupiter ensemble.

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