John Mark Ainsley

John Mark Ainsley, one of Britain’s most prolific tenors, was born in Cheshire, began his musical training in Oxford and continues to study with Diane Forlano. His extensive international concert work includes the Boston Symphony under Ozawa, Vienna Philharmonic under Norrington, Pinnock and Welser-Möst, London Symphony under Sir Colin Davis and Andre Previn, Berlin Philharmonic under Haitink and Rattle and the New York Philharmonic under Masur. His vast discography covers the baroque and classical repertoire, the German Lied and English song, and the American musical and his recording of ‘On Wenlock Edge’ on Hyperion was nominated for a Gramophone award. A highly gifted performer on the opera stage, he was awarded the Munich Festival Prize for his performance as Orfeo in 1999, a role that he has reprised at English National Opera to great acclaim. At the 2003 Salzburg Festival John Mark created the role of ‘Der Daemon’ in the world premiere of Hans Werner Henze's ‘L'Upupa’, which he has since sung at the Teatro Real, Madrid. He recently sang The Madwoman in Britten’s ‘Curlew River’ in Frankfurt and both 'Zaide' and 'La Finta Giardiniera’ at the Salzburg Festival as part of their Mozart celebrations. In the summer of 2007 he sang Skuratov in Janacek’s ‘From the House of the Dead’ at the Aix-en-Provence, Amsterdam and Vienna Festivals and in the Autumn sang the world premiere of Henze's 'Phaedra' in Berlin and Brussels. He recently made his role debut as Captain Vere in ‘Billy Budd' in Frankfurt. His future plans include a return to Munich to sing Bajazete in ‘Tamerlano’ and Idomeneo and to English Nationa Opera where he sings Emilio in ‘Partenope’. John Mark won the 2007 Royal Philharmonic Society Singer Award.

This is for information only and should not be reproduced. Please contact us for a full biography.