Mark Stone

Mark Stone was born in London and studied mathematics at King's College, Cambridge, and singing at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. In 1998 he was awarded the Decca Prize at the Kathleen Ferrier Awards.

A rising star on the operatic stage, he was nominated in the category of ‘Breakthrough Artists’ in the 2005 South Bank Show Awards. His powerful portrayal of Don Giovanni at the English National Opera was hailed in The Times as ‘brilliant', describing Stone as 'a bundle of vicious sexual energy with charm and menace to spare’.

Other roles at ENO include Count Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), Guglielmo (Così fan tutte), Marcello (La bohème), Rossini's Figaro, Chou En-lai (Nixon in China) and Yamadori in Minghella's production of 'Madam Butterfly'. He recently made his debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, as Sonora (La Fanciulla del West) returning subsequently as Valvert (Cyrano de Bergerac). He has sung the title role in 'Eugene Onegin' at Glyndebourne and Escamillo (Carmen), Marcello and Demetrius (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) at Opera North. Last season he made his U.S. debut as Ford (Falstaff) for Philadelphia Opera and he sang Guglielmo in Santa Fe.

His plans include a return to Philadelphia Opera and also to the ENO where, this season, he will sing Enrico (Lucia di Lammermoor) and Maximillian (Candide). In concert he will sing Vaughan Williams' 'A Sea Symphony' in Lisbon.

Other recent concert engagements have included Il barone di Valdeburgo (Bellini's La Straniera) with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and David Parry, Mahler’s ‘Kindertotenlieder’ with the Hallé Orchestra and Mark Elder, Polyphemus (Acis and Galatea) with the Gabrieli Consort and Paul McCreesh and Mozart arias with the Academy of Ancient Music and Paul Daniel. He made his debut as a soloist at the BBC Proms in 2005 in Stanford’s ‘Songs of the Sea’ with the BBC Concert Orchestra, and recently sang 'Billy Budd' with the London Symphony Orchestra and Daniel Harding, and Il barone di Valdeburgo (Bellini's La Straniera) with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and David Parry. He has also performed with the City of London Sinfonia, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.

His recordings include ‘Eugene Onegin’ (extracts) with Antonio Pappano (EMI), Mozart arias with the Classical Opera Company (Sony BMG) and ‘Les Troyens’ with the LSO and Sir Colin Davis (LSO Live). His first recital disc - volume one of the complete Quilter edition – has recently been released by Sony BMG.

Photo: Robert Workman.