Biography – Philip Sheffield – Tenor
Philip Sheffield studied at Cambridge University and then the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the Royal College of Music Opera Course before making his professional debut as a soloist in L’incoronazione di Poppea for the Brussels opera in the Théâtre de la Monnaie.
2007 saw him making several exciting appearances in major Opera Houses. In April and May he sang Tom Rakewell in Robert Lapage's new production of The Rakes Progress at La Monnaie in Brussels. He then made his La Scala, Milan debut in Robert Carsen’s controversial production of Candide. In the autumn he took the leading tenor role in Jonathan Dove’s new opera Kwasi and Kwame for OT Rotterdam. In December he sang Eisenstein in semi staged performances of Fledermaus at The Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and Salle Flagey in Brussels with the Vlaamse Radio Orchestra. He also made a recording of The Lithurgy of Orpheus by Markopolous with Jose Van Dam and performed Haydn's Die Schöpfung in Firenze, Siena and Perugia with the Orchestra della Toscana.
2008 started with his debut in Lisbon at the Opera Sao Carlos singing The Prince -
In Concert in 2008 Philip has thus far given a recital in The Holders Festival in Barbados, sung Don Jose in a concert performance of Bizet’s Carmen with Terry Edwards and sung the tenor arias in The Matthew Passion at St.John’s Smith Square and in Plymouth. Future concerts include performing Mahlers 8th Symphony in The Sage Centre, Gateshead, Verdi’s Requiem in Liverpool, Harrison Birtwistle’s Last Supper in Milan and Turin with the London Sinfonietta under Elgar Howarth and Tom Ades’ The Tempest in Amsterdam at the Concertgebouw under Marcus Stenz.
Since his professional debut Philip has sung over 70 roles at many prestigious venues including The Royal Opera House; Covent Garden, Nederlandse Opera, Opera Sao Carlos (Lisbon), La Monnaie (Brussels), Vlaamse Opera (Antwerp and Gent), English National Opera, Opera North, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Staatsteater Saarbrücken, Opera du Rhin (Strasbourg), Opera Comique (Paris), Opera de Nantes, Le Chatelet (Paris), München Biennale and the Savonlinna Festival in Finland
Operatic career highlights thus far have included singing the role of Tom Rakewell at La Monnaie, Pelleas at the Opera Comique in Paris conducted by Georges Prêtre, Don Ottavio with the acclaimed Mozartian conductor Leopold Hager, Alonso in Tom Ades’ new Opera The Tempest in Strasbourg, Edward IV in Robert Carsen’s production of Richard III at the Vlaamse Opera and the lead role of Terry Bond in Playing Away for Opera North and The Munich Biennale conducted by Paul Daniel and directed by David Pountney.
Concert highlights have included several performances of Britten’s War Requiem, most notably at the Berlin Philharmonie on the occasion of the 60 th anniversary of the end of World War 2 in 2005. He also performed the work in Luxembourg as part of that city’s celebration of holding the presidency of the EU. Other highlights include The Dream of Gerontius with Yuri Simonov in Brussels, Serenade for tenor horn and strings in the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and Britten’s Nocturne in the Berlin Philharmonie. He has also performed with many leading orchestra’s in the contemporary field including the London Sinfonietta, Ensemble Modern, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group.
He is perhaps best know for his work in 20 th century repertoire and has created many roles. In Saarbrücken his performance of the lead role in Gerhard Stäblers Madame La Peste was described by The Süddeutscher Zeitung as "Strahlend bei Stimme und schön wie Che Guevara". He recently created the role of Edward IV in Giorgio Batistelli’s acclaimed new opera Richard III. He has created roles in operas by other prominent composers such as Jonathan Dove, Alexander Goehr, Hans Jurgen Von Bose, Ben Mason, Michael Berkeley, Elena Firsova and Nicola Lefanu.