COUNTERTENOR

Rapidly establishing himself at the forefront of the new generation of countertenors, James Laing studied at Uppingham School and was a choral scholar at Trinity College, Cambridge. He furthered his studies at the Royal College of Music with Robin Blaze. He was selected by OPERA NOW as amongst ‘Who’s Hot’ for his performance as Nerone Agrippina at the London Handel Festival. His broadcast work includes Sports Personality of the Year for BBC TV, In Tune for Radio 3 and Midweek for Radio 4. A feature interview appeared in the JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2008 edition of OPERA NOW.

James Laing’s engagements have included Oberon A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Coachman / Fox The Adventures of Pinocchio, Pastor L’Orfeo and Spirit Dido and Aeneas for Opera North, Oberon A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Raphael Tobias and the Angel for ETO, Raphael Tobias and the Angel at the Young Vic and for the Oundle Festival, Refugee Flight for Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Nerone Agrippina and John Brockes Passion at the London Handel Festival, Medoro Orlando for the Early Opera Company, Zephyrus Apollo and Hyacinthus for OTC, Dublin, and the Classical Opera Company, the B Minor Mass with the City of London Sinfonia in St Albans Abbey, the St John Passion with the Irish Chamber Orchestra Messiah with the Apollo Chamber Orchestra, the English Chamber Orchestra and the Hallé Orchestra, the William Byrd Festival with Pacific Northwest Viols in the USA, The Scarlatti Dynasty at the Blumental International Music Festival, Israel, Vivaldi Cantatas with the Ten Tors Orchestra and Other Shakespearean Dreamers at The Liceu, Barcelona.

James Laing’s recent engagements have included Endimione La Calisto (Cover) for the Royal Opera, Giuliano Eliogabalo for Grange Park Opera, Armindo Partenope for Les Azuriales Opera, Andronico Tamerlano for opera by definition, Ascanio Ascanio in Alba and the Opening Concert at Kings Place for the Classical Opera Company and Messiah with the Choeur de Chambre de Namur and Les Agrémens in Brussels and Nantes.

His recent and current engagements include Oberon A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Zelim La verita in cimento for Garsington Opera, Guido Flavio and Alessandro Tolomeo for English Touring Opera, the title role in Orfeo ed Euridice with The Cannons Scholars at St John’s, Smith Square, the St John Passion with the Academy of Ancient Music, Toivo Tulev’s Songs with the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir conducted by Daniel Reuss, an appearance at the York Early Music Christmas Festival with Concordia and Spring for Music with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, New York. His performance with Opera North in The Adventures of Pinocchio is now available on Opus Arte DVD and his recording of Tobias and the Angel is released on Chandos in June 2010. He will return to Opera North for the revival of this production in 2010 / 2011, as well as to sing Tolomeo Giulio Cesare in 2011 / 2012.

Please note that this biography is not to be used for programmes. Current information is available on request.