The English baritone and writer, Adrian Horsewood, read mathematics and philosophy at Cambridge before studying for Master’s degrees in Historical Performance from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama (2007-2008) and the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (2008-2010). He is currently undertaking a PhD at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire (since 2017; expected graduation: 2023; supervised by Dr Carrie Churnside), carrying out research into sacred music and liturgy in 17th-century Rome, and the cathedral archives in Mdina, Malta.
Adrian Horsewood is active as areelance baritone, researcher, and writer since July 2001. He is a member of the Chapel Choir of the Royal Hospital Chelsea, and deputizes at St Paul’s Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, and Westminster Cathedral. He also works with groups including the Academy of Ancient Music (Director: Richard Egarr), BBC Singers, Brabant Ensemble, Chamber Choir Ireland, English Voices, Ex Cathedra (Director: Jeffrey Skidmore), EXAUDI, London Voices (Director: Terry Edwards), Oxford Camerata (Director: Jeremy Summerley), Philharmonia Voices, and Tenebrae (Director: Nigel Short).
Adrian Horsewood has performed in many prestigious venues and festivals across the world, including the Royal Albert Hall, St John’s Smith Square, Kings Place, the Royal Festival Hall, the Aldeburgh Festival, Symphony Hall in Birmingham, the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, the Salle Pleyel in Paris, the Berliner Philharmonie, the Palau de la Música in Barcelona, the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, the Rheingau Festival in Germany, and the Hong Kong Cultural Centre. He made his solo debut at the BBC Proms in 2013, as Ex Cathedra repeated its acclaimed performance of Welt-Parlament from Stockhausen’s Mittwoch aus Licht.
Adrian Horsewood is equally at home in recitals, and is a keen proponent of music of all ages and styles. He has worked with composers Zad Moultaka and Roque Rivas at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, and collaborated with recorder ensemble Consortium5 in the world premiere of Robert Fokkens’s Pentecost.
Adrian Horsewood also has a great deal of stage experience, including opera performances in London, Rome, Paris, Aix-en-Provence, Köln, and Lille. Particular highlights have included performing the role of Count Almaviva in W.A. Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro (Fitzwilliam Chamber Opera, Cambridge), the theatre project ‘Ars moriendi’ in Switzerland, France, and Germany, and appearing as a soloist in the world premiere of Stockhausen’s opera Mittwoch aus Licht in 2012.
Adrian Horsewood has been Associate Editor (Early Music) of Classical Music magazine since 2017 and the editor of Early Music Today since 2013. He is an experienced music journalist, his particular specialisms being early music/historical performance, historical musicology, vocal music, and choral music. He is also an experienced proofreader, writer of concert programme notes and CD booklet notes, and translator into English from French, German, Italian, and Latin. |