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Richard Edgar-Wilson

Richard Edgar-Wilson is an English tenor whose lyric voice and musical artistry are in demand internationally, both on the concert platform and the opera stage. He is particularly sought after as an Evangelist and as an interpreter of the music of Benjamin Britten.

Life and Career

Richard Wilson (he had to change his name on joining Equity to prevent any possible confusion with the well-known Scottish actor) was born in Ipswich, Suffolk. He attended Ipswich School and Christ’s College, Cambridge University, where he was a choral scholar and read History. He later won a postgraduate scholarship to the Royal College of Music where he studied with Edward Brooks and Alasdair Graham.

Early singing engagements included concerts and recordings with the Consort of Musicke, the Tallis Scholars, the Deller Consort, Combattimento and the Scholars.

Since 1989 when he began working only as a soloist he has sung in over thirty countries collaborating with many of the world’s best conductors including Sir Roger Norrington, Trevor Pinnock, Raymond Leppard, Sir Neville Marriner, Thierry Fischer, Philippe Herreweghe and Sir Charles Mackerras and with orchestras such as Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Le Concert Spirituel, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, CBSO, English Chamber Orchestra, Les Musiciens du Louvre and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Opera appearances include Acis (Canada and London), Tamino (Portugal and New Zealand), Don Ottavio (Lisbon), Thespis/Mercure (Platée) at the Palais Garnier, Gonsalve (L’Heure Espagnole) for Grange Park Opera and Death in Venice for ENO, La Monnaie, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and La Scala, Milan.

In recital Edgar-Wilson has performed with Graham Johnson and the Songmakers' Almanac, and with Malcolm Martineau, Eugene Asti, Iain Burnside, Roger Vignoles and Julius Drake.

He won a Gramophone Award for Stradella San Giovanni Battista with Les Musiciens du Louvre/Minkowski and his many solo recordings include Coates Songs with Sir Thomas Allen and the BBC Concert Orchestra, Messiah, Mozart Requiem, Die Schöne Müllerin, and works by Arne, Monteverdi , Bach, Purcell, Boyce, Howard Blake and Bernard Herrmann amongst many others. Film and television work includes Beauty in the world premiere of Gerald Barry’s The Triumph of Beauty and Deceit for Channel Four TV and Radames in the award winning Norwegian feature film Suffløsen.

Richard Edgar-Wilson is married to Dr Jennifer Barnes, Pro-Vice Chancellor (International Strategy) at the University of Cambridge and President of Murray Edwards College. They have a son and a daughter