Philip Sheffield – Short Biography –
Well known for his superb acting and linguistic skills Philip’s career has taken him all over the world.
- After 25 years as an opera singer he is now singing character/lyric roles such as Zivny ( Osud ), Tichon (Katya), Schoolmaster (Vixen), Basilio, Valzachi, Male Chorus in The Rape of Lucretia, Boles or Adams in Peter Grimes, Gandhi in Satyagraha among others.
- He is a renowned expert in Contemporary music and has been involved in many world creations including The Tempest by Thomas Ades at Covent Garden and the Opera du Rhin.
- Highlights from 2017- 2021:
- Two world premieres in Lyon (Claude) and in Luxembourg (Der Turm)
- Four large Janacek roles – Zivny in Osud in Brno ( production Robert Carsen, Tichon in Katya Kabanova in Buenos Aires – Teatro Colon, Broucek in The Adventures of Mr. Broucek for Opera North, and Cerevin – in House of the Dead –
- Between Worlds – ENO at the Barbican
- Loge – Das Rheingold – Grimeborne
- Snout – A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Osaka
- Performances all over the world – Teatro Colon (Buenos Aires), La Scala, Osaka, English National Opera, Opera du Rhin, Vlaamse Opera, Oviedo Opera.
- Recent well known directors he has worked with – Olivier Pi, David Alden, Robert Carsen, David Pountney, Wout Koeken, Deborah Warner
- Recent Conductors – Kazushi Ono, Marl Elder, Paul Daniel, David Parry, Enrique Mazzola, Marko Letonja
- Concerts at The Barbican, Royal Albert Hall, Festival Hall, Concertgebouw and Berlin Philharmonie – Dream of Gerontius, Britten War Requiem, Bach Johannes Passion
- 2022 – Tenor soloist in a new opera animation movie. Tenor soloist with the Czech Philharmonic Quartet singing On Wenlock Edge by Ralph Vaughan Williams.
- 2023 – La Fiera di Venezia ( Salieri ) – Bampton Classical opera and performance of Winterreise in Slovakia and Belgium
Earlier career;
- Educated Trinity College , Cambridge and post grad at Guildhall School of Music
- Two years as a member of The Swingle Singers touring the world
- Opera School of Royal College of Music
- Operatic Debut under Roger Norrington in Orfeo
- Many lyric roles performed around Europe – Tamino, Belmonte, Ferrando, Tom Rakewell, Pelleas, many Britten roles.
- As a specialist in contemporary music he performed leading roles in world premieres for Opera North, Le Chatelet, Opera Du Rhin, Vlaamse Opera, Rome Opera, Munchen Bienale , London Sinfonietta among others.
- Career highpoints – Singing Pelléas at the Opéra-Comique with George Prêtre and Tom Rakewell with Kazushi Ono at La Monnaie de Munt