Justin Lavender (born 4 June 1951) is an

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

tic

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

, a professor of vocal studies at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...

and co-founder and Musical Director of Arcadian Opera. He was educated at

Bedford Modern School Bedford Modern School (often called BMS) is a Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference independent school in Bedford, England. The school has its origins in Bedford Charity, The Harpur Trust, born from the financial endowment, endowments le ...

, Queen Mary College London and the

Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a conservatoire and drama school located in the City of London, United Kingdom. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz ...

. Although he initially intended to train as a nuclear engineer he was persuaded by

Sir Peter Pears Sir Peter Neville Luard Pears ( ; 22 June 19103 April 1986) was an English tenor. His career was closely associated with the composer Benjamin Britten, his personal and professional partner for nearly forty years. Pears' musical career started ...

and

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

to pursue a career in music. Following his debut in 1980 as Nadir in Bizet's ''

Les pêcheurs de perles ' (''The Pearl Fishers'') is an opera in three acts by the French composer Georges Bizet, to a libretto by Eugène Cormon and Michel Carré. It was premiered on 30 September 1863 at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris, and was given 18 performances in ...

'' at the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architec ...

, Lavender has performed with most of the world's major orchestras and opera companies. In addition to his

tic performances, Lavender is a professor of vocal studies at the

, an honorary professor of the

Confucius Institute Confucius Institutes (CI; ) are public educational and cultural promotion programs funded and arranged currently by the , a government-organized non-governmental organization (GONGO) under the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic o ...

Pfeiffer University Pfeiffer University is a private university in Misenheimer, North Carolina. It is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. History Pfeiffer originated from a home school operated by Miss Emily Prudden in the late 19th century. The schoo ...

, and from 2009 to 2020 was vocal consultant to the Choir of

King's College Chapel, Cambridge King's College Chapel is the chapel of King's College in the University of Cambridge. It is considered one of the finest examples of late Perpendicular Gothic English architecture and features the world's largest fan vault. The Chapel was bui ...

. In 2015 Lavender co-founded the community opera company, Arcadian Opera, which performs regularly at Stowe, Buckingham.

Operatic performances

* 1980 – professional debut as Nadir in ''

The Pearl Fishers ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' (

) * 1990 – debut as Arnold in Rossini's ''

Guillaume Tell ''William Tell'' (french: Guillaume Tell, link=no; it, Guglielmo Tell, link=no) is a French-language opera in four acts by Italian composer Gioachino Rossini to a libretto by Victor-Joseph Étienne de Jouy and L. F. Bis, based on Friedrich Sch ...

'' (

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. It is the home of The Royal Op ...

) * 1990 – debut as Tamino in ''

Die Zauberflöte ''The Magic Flute'' (German: , ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a ''Singspiel'', a popular form during the time it was written that includ ...

'' (

Vienna State Opera The Vienna State Opera (, ) is an opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by August S ...

) * 1991 – debut and title role in Rossini's ''

Le comte Ory ''Le comte Ory'' (''Count Ory'') is a comic opera written by Gioachino Rossini in 1828. Some of the music originates from his opera ''Il viaggio a Reims'' written three years earlier for the coronation of Charles X of France, Charles X. The French ...

'' (

La Scala La Scala (, , ; abbreviation in Italian of the official name ) is a famous opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the ' (New Royal-Ducal Theatre alla Scala). The premiere performan ...

, Milan) * 1993 – debut as Demodokos in Dallapiccola's ''

Ulisse ''Ulisse'' is an opera in a prologue and two acts composed by Luigi Dallapiccola to his own libretto based on the legend of Ulysses. It premiered at the Deutsche Oper Berlin (in German translation by Karl-Heinrich Kreith as ''Odysseus'') on 29 ...

'' (

Salzburg Festival The Salzburg Festival (german: Salzburger Festspiele) is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer (for five weeks starting in late July) in the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amad ...

) * 2004 – title role in Gounod's ''

Faust Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust ( 1480–1540). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the Devil at a crossroads ...

'' (

)

Concert performances

* 1988 – Schubert's Mass in E Flat (Giulini and Berlin Philharmonic) * 1988 – Bartók's ''

Cantata Profana ''Cantata Profana'' (subtitled ''A kilenc csodaszarvas'' 'The Nine Enchanted Stags'' Sz 94) is a work for tenor, baritone, double mixed chorus and orchestra by the Hungarian composer Béla Bartók. Completed on 8 September 1930, it received it ...

'' (Solti and London Philharmonic) * 1991 – Schnittke's Faust Cantata (Abbado and Vienna Symphony) * 1996 – Elgar's ''

The Dream of Gerontius ''The Dream of Gerontius'', Op. 38, is a work for voices and orchestra in two parts composed by Edward Elgar in 1900, to text from the poem by John Henry Newman. It relates the journey of a pious man's soul from his deathbed to his judgment b ...

'' (Slatkin and Philharmonia) * 2001 – Schnittke's Faust Cantata (Slatkin and BBC)

Film

* 2002 – appeared in

The Life of David Gale ''The Life of David Gale'' is a 2003 dramatic crime thriller film directed by Alan Parker and written by Charles Randolph. The film is an international co-production, between the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom. It was Parker's final ...

Recordings

* 1983 – video of Oedipus Rex * 1989 – audio of La Noche Triste * 1991 – audio of La Favorite * 1993 – audio of Messiah * 1993 – audio of I Puritani * 1993 – video of Mitridate * 1994 – audio of The Wreckers * 1994 – audio of Rossini and Donizetti arias * 1996 – audio of Britten Song Cycles * 1996 – audio of Bomtempo Mattutina dei Morti * 1997 – audio of Mozart Arias * 1998 – audio of Alceste * 1999 – audio of War and Peace * 2004 – audio of Schnittke Faust Cantata * 2006 – audio of Elgar's Dream of Gerontius * 2008 – audio of Janáček Otčenas

References

External links

Profile of Justin Lavender at the Royal College of Music
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lavender, Justin Operatic tenors 20th-century British male opera singers British tenors Vocal coaches Academics of the Royal College of Music Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama Alumni of Queen Mary University of London 1951 births Living people People educated at Bedford Modern School 21st-century British male opera singers