ABOUT DAVID

From Verdi’s great dramatic baritone roles to contemporary opera and concert classics, Welsh baritone David Kempster has established a remarkably versatile international career. He has appeared in leading roles at Welsh National Opera, English National Opera, the Royal Danish Opera, Glyndebourne, Scottish Opera, Opera North, Dallas Opera and Gothenburg Opera.

His extensive repertoire includes the title roles in Rigoletto, Nabucco, Guillaume Tell and Don Giovanni, alongside Iago in Otello, Count di Luna in Il trovatore, Germont in La traviata, Scarpia in Tosca, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly and Jack Rance in La fanciulla del West. He has also appeared in the title role of Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd and as Chou En Lai in Nixon in China. Recent engagements include Balstrode in Peter Grimes at Welsh National Opera under Tomáš Hanus, Monterone in Rigoletto at English National Opera and Sharpless in Madama Butterfly at Dorset Opera Festival.

On the concert platform, Kempster has performed with leading orchestras including the Hallé, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Copenhagen Philharmonic and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as appearing at the BBC Proms and Welsh Proms. His concert repertoire includes Mendelssohn’s Elijah, and his recordings include the role of Sévère in Les Martyrs with Opera Rara under Sir Mark Elder..