John Mark Ainsley is a highly versatile concert singer whose international engagements include appearances with the London Symphony under Sir Colin Davis, Rostropovich and Previn, the Concert D’Astrée under Haim, the London Philharmonic under Norrington, Les Musiciens du Louvre under Minkowski, the Cleveland Orchestra under Welser-Möst, the Berlin Philharmonic under Haitink and Rattle, the Berlin Staatskapelle under Jordan, the New York Philharmonic under Masur, the Boston Symphony under Ozawa, the San Francisco Symphony under Tate and Norrington, the Vienna Philharmonic under Norrington, Pinnock and Welser-Möst, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields under Marriner and Langrée, and both the Orchestra of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and the Orchestre de Paris under Giulini.

At the 2005 Saito Kinen Festival he appeared in Schoenberg’s Gurrelieder under Ozawa. His discography is extensive, including Handel’s Saul with Gardiner, Britten’s Midsummer Night’s Dream with Davis, Stravinsky’s Pulcinella with Haitink and J.S. Bach’s Mass in B minor and the Evangelist in the St Matthew Passion with Ozawa, L’enfance du Christ, Alexander’s Feast, Acis and Galatea, the Berlioz Requiem and the title role in Monteverdi’s Orfeo. He has made a series of recital records of Schubert, Mozart, Purcell, Grainger, Warlock and Quilter, with a recording of Vaughan Williams’s On Wenlock Edge nominated for a Gramophone Award. Other recordings include the Britten cycles Serenade for tenor, horn and strings, Les Illuminations and Nocturne, Charlie in Brigadoon and Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni. On the operatic stage he has sung Don Ottavio at the Glyndebourne Festival under Sir Simon Rattle, and at the Aix-en-Provence Festival under Claudio Abbado. He has appeared with Opera Australia as Tito and Idomeneo, with the Netherlands Opera as the title role in Handel’s Samson, with the San Francisco Opera as Don Ottavio and Jupiter in Semele and at the Munich Festival as Jonathan in Saul and as Orfeo, for which he received the Munich Festival Prize. In 2002 he made his début at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, as Don Ottavio under Mackerras. At the 2003 Salzburg Festival he created the rôle of Der Daemon in the world première of Hans Werner Henze’s L’Upupa, which he reprised at the Teatro Real, Madrid. He returned to Salzburg in 2006 where he sang Soliman in Zaide and Belfiore in La finta giardinera. He sang The Madwoman in Britten’s Curlew River in Frankfurt and his first Pelléas for the Deutsche Oper, Berlin.

Gabrieli are world-renowned interpreters of great vocal and instrumental repertoire, from the Renaissance to the present day. Founded by Paul McCreesh in 1982, Gabrieli have both outgrown and remained true to their original identity: whilst the ensemble’s repertoire has expanded beyond any expectation, McCreesh’s ever-questioning spirit, expressive musicianship and a healthy degree of iconoclasm remain constant and are reflected in the ensemble’s dynamic performances. Gabrieli’s repertoire includes major works of the oratorio tradition, virtuosic a cappella programmes and mould-breaking reconstructions of music for historical events. Above all, Gabrieli aims to create thought-provoking performances which stand out from the crowd.

Wrocław Philharmonic Choir was founded in 2006 and is directed by Agnieszka Franków-Żelazny. The choir has quickly established itself as a leading force in the Polish choral music scene; its dynamic profile encompasses a wide range of a cappella choral music as well as large-scale oratorio and symphonic repertoire. They work most frequently with the Wrocław Philharmonic Orchestra and the Wrocław Baroque Orchestra. Wrocław Philharmonic Choir are increasingly expanding their work across Europe and recent projects have included partnerships with established groups such as Gabrieli Consort & Players and the NDR Orchestra. They have appeared at many prominent European venues and festivals and were the first Polish choir to appear at the BBC Proms. Known for its adventurous and exciting programming, the choir has worked with conductors Paul McCreesh, Jacek Kaspszyk, Krzysztof Penderecki, James MacMillan, Mike Brewer and Bob Chilcott.

Following his degree in Biochemistry, Christopher Maltman studied singing at the Royal Academy of Music. A globally-renowned Don Giovanni, he has sung the role in London, Berlin, Munich, Cologne, Salzburg, Amsterdam, Toulouse, San Sebastian, Beijing and Chicago, and adds New York and Edinburgh this year. Increasingly in demand for Verdi roles, he has sung Posa, Simon Boccanegra, Conte di Luna, Guy de Montfort and will soon add Don Carlo di Vargas, Rigoletto and Germont. He won the Lieder prize at the Cardiff Singer of the World early in his career and has continued to delight audiences with his sensitive and engaging song performances, many of which are documented in acclaimed recordings. His vast and varied discography, from Purcell to Ades includes John Corigliano’s Grammy award-winning ‘Ghost of Versailles’ from Los Angeles Opera.

Paul McCreesh is the founder and Artistic Director of the Gabrieli Consort & Players which he established in 1982 and with whom he has toured world-wide and made many award-winning recordings. McCreesh is well-known for the energy and passion that he brings to his music-making, and he is especially enthusiastic about working with young musicians, broadening access to classical music. He works regularly with youth orchestras and choirs and is active in building new educational initiatives whenever possible.
McCreesh has conducted many of the major orchestras and choirs across the globe, including the Leipzig Gewandhaus, Bergen Philharmonic, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony, Verbier Festival Orchestra and Berlin Konzerthausorchester. McCreesh also enjoys regular and ongoing collaborations with Saint Paul and Basel Chamber Orchestras. In 2018-19 he conducts Elgar and Brahms for Kammerakademie Potsdam, Mendelssohn and Britten for Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, and Handel for Symphonique de Montréal, alongside appearances with Filharmonia Poznanska and MDR Radio Symphony.
From 2013-2016 he was Principal Conductor and Artistic Adviser of the Gulbenkian Orchestra (Lisbon) with whom he conducted a wide range of music from the classical period through the 19th and 20th centuries, focusing in particular on symphonic repertoire, oratorio and opera in concert, working closely with the world-renowned Gulbenkian Choir.
McCreesh has established a strong reputation in the opera house and has conducted productions at the Teatro Real Madrid, Royal Danish Opera, Opera Comique, Vlaamse Opera and at the Verbier Festival. Most recently he conducted Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Bergen Opera, and returned to Vlaamse Opera for a production of Idomeneo.
In 2011 McCreesh launched his own record label, Winged Lion, in collaboration with the Gabrieli Consort & Players, Signum Classics and the Wratislavia Cantans Festival, where he was Artistic Director from 2006-2012. To date they have made ten recordings, most recently A Rose Magnificat, music dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary from the Renaissance to the present day, released in May 2018 and lauded by critics: “Captivating … imaginative … ambitious” (Financial Times), “the superlative Gabrieli Consort give a formidably encompassing performance” (BBC Music Magazine), “pristine: carefully balanced and always cleanly tuned” (Gramophone). Other highlights include Haydn The Seasons, Britten War Requiem (BBC Music Magazine Award 2014), Mendelssohn Elijah (Diapason d’Or Award 2013), Berlioz’s gargantuan Grande Messe des Morts (BBC Award 2012), and a reworking of his earlier Gabrieli disc, A New Venetian Coronation 1595 (Gramophone Award 2013).