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The Australian tenor, Adrian Brand, studied at the N.S.W. Conservatorium of Music with Susan Falk and Elizabeth Todd, where he was awarded the Bachelor of Music and the Diploma in Operatic Art and Music Theatre. Successes in competition singing in his homeland included: Sydney Sun Aria 1985 - Finalist with special rnention; Australian Broadcasting Commission Vocal Competition 1985 - N.S.W. first prize.
Adrian Brand made his debut appearance with the Australian Opera as Count' Almaviva in the 1986 production of The Barber of Seville. In 1985 he performed the role of Sandy in the Australian premier of The Lighthouse, a chamber opera by Peter Maxwell Davies in Sydney's Seymour Centre and the Festival of Perth. He has taken part in a. number of premiers. including The King of The Other Country (Gillian Whitehead) with Jane Manning and Geoffrey Chard; and Richard Meale's Voss ('I'he Australian Opera ).
After moving to Europe, Adrian Brand has studied with Audrey Langford, and Schyuler Hamilton. He has performed in master-classes given by Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Gérard Souzay, and Richard Miller. Successes in European singing, competitions included: Nantes 1990 - French mélodie prize; Clermont Ferrand 1990 - Contemporary music prize; Paris 1987 - Ravel Competition - Fauré prize.
ln France, where Adrian Brand has lived since 1987, he has performed in Die Soldaten (Zimmerman) at the Paris Opera, & Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier (the Major Dom) at Paris's Théâtre des Champs Elysées. In 1990 he took part in the French premier of Benjamin Britten's Death In Venice for Opera de Nancy and in 1993 took a role in Billy Budd which he played again in 1994 in Toulouse. In concert version he has performed the roles vf Vincent (Mireille by Charles Gounod); Orphée in Gluck's Orphée; and Rodolpho (La Boheme - Act I). His repertoire also includes Ferrando, Paolino (The Secret Marriage), Titus (La Clemenza di Tito), Tamino (Die Zauberflöte), Ralph Rackstraw (H.M.S. Pinafore), and Alcino (La P'rima Donna by A. Benjamin).
Adrian Brand has performed with Les Arts Florissants - William Christie (Rameau's Castor and Pollux; Händel's Acis & Galatea, etc.) and also with Philippe Herreweghe (Gesualdo), Christophe Rousset (Monteverdi madrigals), Christophe Coin, and other early music specialists. He has sung with the BBC Singers (with Sir John Pritchard and Pierre Boulez), Huelgas Ensemble, and the Groupe Vocal de France, among others. He works regularly with Solistes de Lyon Bernard Tétu and Ensemble Européen William Byrd.
Both in France and throughout the world (Europe, Asia, Australia and the American continent), Adrian Brand has perfiormed many oratorios with such conductors as: Christopher Hogwood (W.A. Mozart's Requiem with the Australian Chamber Orchestra; Jürgen Jürgens (Monteverdi's Vespers with Sydney Philharmonia); Michel Piquemal (Carmina Burana & W.A. Mozart's Requiem); Michel Corboz (J.S. Bach's Saint John Passion (BWV 245)). He sang Saint Nicolas (B. Britten) at Opera de Lyon and B. Britten’s Serenade with the Toulouse Chamber Orchestra. He has often perfomed as soloist at Radio France, notably in Aleph by P. Manoury with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. Other works perforrned include Beethoven's Ninth Symphony (notably for the inauguration of the Palais des Congrès at Tours), Berlioz's Requiem and Puccini's Missa di Gloria. In 2000, 2002 and 2004, he sang the J.S. Bach's Saint Matthew Passion (BWV 244) (Evangelist) in Amsterdam’s Concertgebow. |
