biography
British
countertenor Andrew Radley
specialises in the great opera roles written for the alto castrato
voice by Handel and other leading composers of the 18th century and the
Renaissance. He regularly sings in oratorio, particularly the works of
J S Bach, and has a wide repertoire of European and American song.
Andrew Radley read music at Clare
College, Cambridge, UK, where he was a choral scholar. He graduated in
2000. In September 2001 he commenced his studies at London's Royal
Academy of Music, having been awarded an entrance scholarship to the
postgraduate concert course. In 2003 he was awarded another scholarship
to the prestigious Royal Academy Opera course where he completed his
studies in 2004.
Between January and April 2004 Andrew Radley participated in an Erasmus
exchange to the Paris Conservatoire (CNSMDP) studying with Pierre
Mervant. He continues to study with Noelle Barker, OBE.
His operatic roles have included the title role in Handel's Flavio for the Early Opera Company
(Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, and the Lichfield and Iford Festivals);
Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice in
the Spitalfields Festival; the title role in Handel’s Tamerlano for the Cambridge Handel
Opera Group; the title role of Handel’s Orlando at Dartington
International Summer School and Joachim in Handel’s Susanna with the Early Opera
Company (QEH, Cheltenham and Salisbury Festivals). Whilst at the
Academy he participated in scenes from Handel's Orlando, Serse and Scipione, Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice,
Rimsky-Korsakov's Le Coq d'Or
and Rossini's La Gazza Ladra.
Andrew Radley's recent concert
engagements have included Handel’s Saul
with the Chester Bach Singers; Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms at St John’s
Smith Square; a recital in the Winchester Festival; Bach’s B Minor Mass at St Martin in the
Fields; a concert of Handel and Scarlatti cantatas in the London Handel
Festival with the Royal Academy of Music Period Orchestra directed by
Laurence Cummings; Handel’s Messiah and
Dixit Dominus at
Snape Maltings with Richard Egarr (broadcast on BBC Radio 3); Bach’s St Matthew Passion with the Britten
Sinfonia at Ely Cathedral, and the role of Daniel in Handel’s Belshazzar at Dartington
International Summer School, with Graeme Jenkins.
