Robin Tritschler

ROBIN TRITSCHLER (TENOR) AND JAMES BOYD (GUITAR)

St Margaret's Church, East Twickenham, TW1 1RL TW1 1RL

The President’s Concert

Songs by Dowland, Giuliani, Walton, Britten, Robert Jones, and Lennox Berkeley

Sponsored by Robin Hewitt

Robin Tritschler graduated from the Royal Irish Academy of Music and the Royal Academy of Music, London. Prizes have included the Ulster Bank Music Foundation Bursary, the Abigail Dodds Lieder Prize, the Song Prize at the 2nd China International Singing Competition and the Song Prize at the Kathleen Ferrier Awards 2006. He won the lieder prize at the Internationaal Vocalisten Concours in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, (as well as being awarded 3rd place overall) and, most recently, 2nd Prize at the 2007 Wigmore Hall International Song Competition.

In recital, Robin has worked with Janne Malinen, James Boyd, Simon Lepper, Eugene Murski, Roger Vignoles and Graham Johnson. His numerous recital appearances have included the KlavierFest Ruhr, the Aix- en- Provence Festival, the Benjamin Britten Festival at the Cologne Philharmonie, the Brahms Song Festival at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, the Dublin Hugo Wolf Festival, the Aldeburgh Festival, the Temple Recital Series in Utah, The Washington Vocal Arts Center and the Wigmore Hall.

On the concert platform, Robin has sung with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, the Irish Chamber Orchestra, Capella Cracoviensis, Poland, the National Symphony Orchestra of Belarus and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Robin frequently broadcasts on radio, including EU broadcasts during the Irish EU presidency and a concert from the Vatican to celebrate the 80th Anniversary of the Vatican State, before Pope Benedict XVI.

He has sung 1st Jew in Salome under Edo de Waart with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and the tenor role in the World Première production of Roger Waters’ Ça Ira in Poland. Robin joined the Welsh National Opera as a principle artist in the 2008/09 season, singing Rodrigo (Otello), Count Almaviva (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Marzio (Mitridate), Nemorino (L’elisir d’amore) and Narraboth (Salome), returning as a guest for Belmonte (Die Entfuehrung aus dem Serail), Jaquino (Fidelio), Ferrando (Cosi fan tutte), Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni) and Benedict (Beatrice and Benedict). He made his debut with the Ruhr Triennale Festival in a production of John Cage’s Europeras 1 & 2.

This season his opera engagements include Wagner’s Dream for WNO and a return to the Nantes Opera for The Two Widows, and his concert appearances include the Gulbenkian Foundation, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra with Trevor Pinnock, and the London Philharmonic Orchestra with Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Next season he will make his debut with the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in Wozzeck.

James Boyd has established his reputation as one of the leading exponents of the classical guitar.

Recent concert appearances include the Aldeburgh, Bath, Norfolk & Norwich and St Magnus Festivals.

Boyd studied at the Royal Academy of Music where he was awarded the Julian Bream prize. His lyrical playing style is strongly influenced by the vocal training he received from the countertenor Charles Brett and he works regularly with the lyric tenor Robin Tritschler and the countertenor Michael Chance CBE.

Boyd is one of the few guitarists to centre his career on the commissioning and performance of new English works for the guitar and he has premiered new music by Elspeth Brooke, Jonathan Dove, Joseph Phibbs and Anthony Powers, amongst others. In 2012 he developed the unique creative project Sea Change: An Adventure of Music and Sailing that sees him sail to different ports in England and abroad, commissioning and performing music written about the sea and his voyage.

His performances have been recorded for BBC Radio 3 and his album Shapes of Sleep was released to widespread critical acclaim. He has lectured at the Royal Academy of Music and regularly gives workshops and masterclasses in guitar for all ages from generic ambien beginners to professional musicians, often incorporating writing and high performance learning from other disciplines such as dance, circus skills, sailing, Alexander Technique and Authentic Yang style Tai Chi.

In 2014 he was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music in recognition of his distinguished contribution to music in his field.