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The English tenor, Simon Wall, grew up in Suffolk and was a chorister, and latterly head chorister, at St Edmundsbury Cathedral in Bury St Edmunds. He subsequently moved to St. John's School, Leatherhead, where he took up a music scholarship. Much later he enjoyed a choral scholarship at St John's College Cambridge, whilst studying for his degree in Theology. During this period he cut his teeth as a soloist around and about the various colleges, and then in oratorio engagements at cathedrals and churches throughout the country. He has sung George Frideric Handel's Messiah at Worcester, and more recently performed the Evangelist in Heinrich Schütz's Christmas Story at St. John's Smith Square. He was also taught by David Lowe.
Upon graduating, Simon Wall worked as personal assistant to composer John Rutter, whilst often being invited to sing with top-notch British consorts such as The Tallis Scholars (Director: Peter Phillips), Oxford Camerata (Director: Jeremy Summerley), Voces Sacrae, English Voices, The Sixteen (Director: Harry Christophers), Monteverdi Choir (Director: John Eliot Gardiner), Cardinall's Musick, I Fagiolini (Director: Robert Hollingworth), Cambridge Singers (Director: John Rutter), European Voices, Polyphony (Director: Stephen Layton), and Gabrieli Consort (Director: Paul McCreesh). After three years he moved as a scholar to the Royal Academy of Music, where he studied with Ashley Stafford.
Simon Wall has given recitals singing a wide repertoire including English and French song, Lieder and operatic arias together with substantial dramatic works such as Benjamin Britten's Abraham and Isaac and The Journey of the Magi. He has recently recorded Barber's operetta A Hand of Bridge - conducted by Marin Alsop, with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (Naxos). During 2003 he premiered solos in John Tavener's brand new epic (7 hour duration) The Veil of the Temple, which called for him to sing a 15 minute unaccompanied gospel at 5am! He has done so again at the Lincoln Center, New York (the USA premiere) and at the BBC Proms (to be released on CD soon - RCA).
Recently Simon Wall appeared as a soloist with the Monteverdi Choir conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner in the USA in Haydn masses, and in Europe and the Far East in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas; for Polyphony, in Hyperion recordings of James Macmillan's Seven Last Words, conducted by Stephen Layton (and in King's College Chapel and Norwich Cathedral), and for Laurence Cummings at the Spitalfields Festival singing the Monteverdi Vespers. |
