Iestyn Davies, countertenor
Thomas Dunford, lute

Iestyn Davies is a British countertenor widely recognized as one of the world’s finest singers, celebrated for the beauty and technical dexterity of his voice and intelligent musicianship. He has received two Gramophone Awards, a Grammy Award, a Royal Philharmonic Society Award for Young Singer of the Year, the Critics’ Circle Award, and recently an Olivier Award nomination. He was awarded the MBE in the Queen’s New Year Honours List 2017 for services to music. 

In 2015 Davies delighted London theatre audiences in the role of Farinelli in Farinelli and the King at the Globe Theatre. The hugely successful project transferred to the West End and was nominated for a number of Olivier Awards. 

His other operatic roles have included Ottone in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea for Zürich Opera and Glyndebourne Festival Opera; Arsace in Handel’s Partenope for New York City Opera; Oberon in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Houston Grand Opera, English National Opera, and The Metropolitan Opera; and Hamor in Handel’s Jephtha for Welsh National Opera and Opera National de Bordeaux. He made his debut at the Opéra Comique and the Munich and Vienna Festivals in George Benjamin’s Written on Skin, and he debuted with the Glyndebourne Festival Opera with his portrayal of the title role in Handel’s Rinaldo. 

Davies’ concert engagements have included performances with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic, Britten Sinfonia, Concerto Köln, Concerto Copenhagen, Ensemble Matheus, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Academy of Ancient Music, and Scottish Chamber Orchestra. He recently made his recital debut at Carnegie Hall.  

Recent performance highlights have included two Bach recitals at the Edinburgh International Festival; Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Aldeburgh Festival; and Schubert’s Die Schöne Müllerin with Julius Drake at Middle Temple Hall in London. Upcoming New York appearances include Thomas Adès’ The Exterminating Angel at the Metropolitan Opera and Farinelli and the King with Mark Rylance on Broadway. 

His recordings include two versions of Handel’s Messiah; Handel’s Chandos Anthems; Bach’s Easter Oratorio; his debut solo recording Live at the Wigmore Hall; and The Art of Melancholy, a recital of songs by John Downland, among many others. He has recently recorded Bach’s cantatas with Arcangelo and Fauré’s Songs with Malcolm Martineau, and he looks forward to the release of Bach’s Magnificat and B Minor Mass in the coming months, both on Hyperion. 

To learn more about Iestyn Davies, please visit his website. 

The son of two accomplished gambists, Thomas Dunford discovered the lute at age nine. He made his young debut playing the role of the lutenist in Shakespeare’s Night of the Kings on the stage of the Comédie Française. Since then, he has performed recitals at Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, and other prestigious venues, and he appears regularly in festivals across Europe, including the Ambronay Festival, the La Chaise-Dieu Festival, and the Utrecht Festival.   
  
Dunford’s extensive discography is the result of various collaborations with a wide range of musicians, singers, and ensembles. His first solo CD, Lachrimae (Alpha/2012), was critically acclaimed and received the Caecilia Prize 2013. His second CD, Labirinto d’Amore, was awarded the Choc de Classica, which is given by the French classical music magazine Classica to 15 exceptional recordings each year.   
  
Dunford is regularly invited to play with Les Arts Florissants, Amarillis, Les Ambassadeurs, Arcangelo, La Cappella Mediterranea, The English Concert, Les Musiciens du Louvre, Pygmalion, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and La Symphonie du Marais, among many other ensembles. He frequently collaborates on chamber music projects with such renowned artists as Paul Agnew, William Christie, Bobby McFerrin, Anne-Sophie von Otter, and Trevor Pinnock, to name only a few.  

In 2018, at age 30, Dunford created L’Ensemble Jupiter, which today comprises many of the musicians with whom he has collaborated throughout his career.   

To learn more about Thomas Dunford, please visit his website.