C h r i s t o p h e r
A i n s l i e
Please find a biography for programme purposes at the bottom of this page.
Christopher Ainslie started his singing career as a chorister in the choir of St George’s Cathedral in Cape Town, his home city. It was with this choir, under the direction of Dr Barry Smith, that his solo career began. After moving to London in 2005 he completed his postgraduate studies at the Royal College of Music with distinction in 2007, and is now performing at some leading venues around the world. He studies privately with Mark Tucker, Paul Farrington and Audrey Hyland.
Christopher was the first counter-tenor to win the Richard Tauber Prize at the Wigmore Hall (2008) and won the Michael Oliver Prize in the 2007 Handel Singing Competition. His performance in the title role of Handel's Poro (conducted by Laurence Cummings, directed by Christopher Cowell, and part of the London Handel Festival) was highly acclaimed. Other opera roles include Innocent 4 in the world premier of Birtwistle's The Minotaur at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (directed by Stephen Langridge and conducted by Antonio Pappano), the title role in Handel's Tamerlano in the Goettingen Festival, Germany (conducted by Nicholas McGegan and directed by Johanna Garpe), Ottone in L'incoronazione di Poppea in Drottningholms Slottsteater, Sweden (directed by Johanna Garpe and conducted by Mark Tatlow), the title role in Arne's Artaxerxes at the Royal Opera House (Linbury Theatre, directed by Martin Duncan and conducted by Ian Page), Medoro in Orlando with Independent Opera at the Wigmore Hall and at Sadler's Wells (directed by Alessandro Talevi and conducted by Gary Cooper), Arsace in Handel's Partenope in Les Azuriales Opera Festival, France, The Voice of Apollo in Death in Venice with Opéra de Lyon (directed by Yoshi Oida and conducted by Martyn Brabbins), Ruggiero in Handel's Alcina with Latvian National Opera, the title role in Rinaldo in Sigulda, Latvia, Alessandro in Tolomeo Rè d’Egitto, in the 2006 London Handel Festival (directed by James Conway and conducted by Laurence Cummings), Arsamenes in an Edinburgh Festival Fringe production of Xerxes and The Spirit in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas at the Spier open-air theatre, Stellenbosch, South Africa.
Recent oratorio performances include Bach's Weihnachts-Oratorium in the Moscow Conservatory, conducted by Vladimir Jurowsky, Purcell's Ode to St Cecilia and Handel's Te Deum in D (Innsbruck, Utrecht and Antwerp Festivals) with B'Rock and Timothy Brown, the title role in Handel’s Solomon (London Handel Festival), conducted by Laurence Cummings, The Messiah, with the Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by Christopher Warren-Green and with the Irish Baroque Orchestra, conducted by Gary Cooper, Belshazzar (Cyrus) in the Frauenkirche in Dresden, Saul (David) in St John's, Smith Square, London, Judas Maccabeaus in Vilnius; Blow's Venus & Adonis (Cupid) with Gary Cooper and B'Rock in Brugge and Ghent, Bach's Matthäus-Passion in Worcester Cathedral and with the London Handel Players in St George's, Hanover Square, Bach's Johannes-Passion, conducted by Madeleine Lovell and Vivaldi’s Gloria with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.
Christopher is rapidly establishing himself as a leading interpreter of repertoire within and outside the traditional confines of the countertenor voice-type. He enjoys giving recitals, and has recently performed at the Wigmore Hall (including works ranging from Dowland to Schubert and Mahler), in the London Handel Festival with Ensemble Chocolat, with Laurence Cummings and the Croatian Baroque Ensemble, and with Harry Bicket and players from The English Concert.
Upcoming engagements include Ottone in Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea with Glyndebourne on Tour and his US opera debut in the title role in Handel's Amadigi at Central City Opera.
While qualifying as a Chartered Accountant in Cape Town, Christopher studied singing part time with Sarita Stern at the University of Cape Town College of Music, and viola with Jürgen Schwietering and Hermina de Groote.
Since moving to London he has had lessons with Mark Tucker, Paul Farrington, Ryland Davies and David Daniels and has sung in master classes with Michael Chance, Peter Harvey, Ashley Stafford and Sarah Walker.
He is grateful for the significant support from Independent Opera in the formative years of his career.
Click here to download biography (updated July 2010)
Click here to download more detailed CV (updated July 2010)