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The Welsh tenor, Sam Furness, started singing as a chorister at Llandaff Cathedral and went on to be a choral scholar at St. John's College Cambridge. After that he studied singing at the Royal Cademy of Music in London with Ryland Davies.
Described as having "all the makings of a star" in the Guardian and hailed lyric tenor clearly going places" in Opera magazine, Sam Furness has sung major roles for Scottish Opera, Garsington Opera and the Teatro Real, Madrid, always earning praise for his compelling acting and innate musicality.
Sam Furness has received great acclaim for his performances of Benjamin Britten, including the Novice in Billy Budd (Teatro Real, Madrid, Teatro Municipal, Santiago and for his house debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, 2018-2019 season); title role in Albert Herring (Opera di Firenze, Opera Holland Park and in a new production at the Théâtre du Capitole Toulouse) and Quint and the Prologue in The Turn of the Screw (Northern Ireland Opera). He also excels in the music of Janáček and has sung Vitek in The Makropulos Case (Vlaanderen Opera), Števa in Jenůfa (Scottish Opera), and The Diary of One Who Vanished (Shadwell Opera).
Other roles include Lensky in Eugene Onegin (Garsington Opera, Royal Academy Opera and at the Ryedale Festival); Don Jose in Georges Bizet's Carmen (Jyäaskylä Opera); Tamino in W.A. Mozart's Die Zauberflöte (Turku Music Festival), Kavalier in Cardillac (Vlaanderen Opera); Hoffmann in Les contes d'Hoffmann (English Touring Opera); Jaquino in L.v. Beethoven's Fidelio (Garsington Opera and Philharmonie de Paris); Flamand in Capriccio, Baron Lummer in Intermezzo, Gaspar in the world premiere of David Sawer's The Skating Rink and Jack in the world premiere of Roxanna Panufnik's Silver Birch (all for Garsington Opera).
Sm Furness has sung in recital at venues including London's Wigmore Hall. His oratorio and concert repertoire includes W.A. Mozart's Requiem, J.S. Bach's St Matthew Passion (BWV 244) and St John Passion (BWV 245), Felix Mendelssohn's Elijah, George Frideric Handel's Messiah and Samson, B. Britten's St Nicholas and Les Illuminations, Verdi's Requiem and Dyson's Canterbury Pilgrims.
Recent highlights include his house debuts at Grand Théâtre de Genève (Vitek in The Makropoulos Case), Opernhaus Zürich (Albert Gregor in The Makropoulos Case), and Theater an der Wien (Rodolphe in Guillaume Tell); White King/Mad Hatter in Alice's Adventures Under Ground, Glass Maker in Death in Venice, Novice in Billy Budd and Simpleton in Boris Godunov (Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, 2019-2020 season); and Igor Stravinsky's Pulcinella with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
In the 2021-2022 season Sam Furness sings Kudryas in Katya Kabanova at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, and Turiddu in Cavalleria rusticana and Beppe in Pagliacci at Åbo Svenska Teater, Turku. He also sings W.A. Mozart's Vesperae solennes de confessore and Mass in C minor with Hertfordshire Chorus in St Alban's Cathedral. |
