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Michael Chance
Born: March 7, 1955; Penn, Buckinghamshire
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Michael Chance is a leading British countertenor, in worldwide demand for male alto parts in opera, and as a recital, concert, and recording artist. He was a choral scholar at King's College, Cambridge -- an adult-voice singer at the famous Choir of King's College Cambridge, receiving a full scholarship for singing daily services in the College Chapel during the school term. His major subject at Cambridge was English, but he received thorough
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Composers
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Agricola, Alexander (1)
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Allegri, Gregorio (2)
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Anonymous (2)
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Bach, Johann Christoph (1)
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Bach, Johann Michael (1)
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Bach, Johann Sebastian (37)
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Basford, Daniel (1)
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Beamish, Sally (1)
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Blow, John (2)
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Britten, Benjamin (4)
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Buxtehude, Dietrich (3)
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Byrd, William (3)
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Campion, Thomas (3)
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Couperin, François (1)
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Danyel, John (1)
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Daza, Esteban (1)
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Dowland, John (3)
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Draghi, Giovanni Battista (1)
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Dufay, Guillaume (1)
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Ford, Thomas (2)
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Fuenllana, Miguel de (1)
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Geist, Christian (1)
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Gilbert, Anthony (2)
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Goehr, Alexander (1)
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Handel, George Frideric (27)
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Hasse, Johann Adolf (1)
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Holborne, Anthony (1)
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Howells, Herbert (1)
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Johnson, Robert [baroque] (1)
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Kuhnau, Johann (1)
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Landi, Stefano (1)
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Lassus, Orlando de (1)
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MacRae, Stuart (1)
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Maxwell Davies, Peter (1)
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McDowall, Cecilia (1)
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Meredith, anna (2)
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Molitor, Claudia (1)
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Monteverdi, Claudio (6)
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Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus (2)
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O'Regan, Tarik (1)
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Orff, Carl (1)
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Palestrina, Giovanni (3)
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Parsons, Robert (1)
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Pergolesi, Giovanni Battista (2)
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Plowman, Lynne (1)
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Purcell, Henry (20)
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Rosseter, Philip (1)
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Schütz, Heinrich (3)
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Tavener, John (3)
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Vaughan Williams, Ralph (1)
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Vivaldi, Antonio (3)
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Weckmann, Matthias (1)
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Weir, Judith (1)
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Wert, Giaches de (1)
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Wilson, John (1)
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Zelenka, Jan Dismas (1)
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| More Featured Michael Chance CDs & DVDs: |
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Biography |
by Joseph Stevenson
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Michael Chance is a leading British countertenor, in worldwide demand for male alto parts in opera, and as a recital, concert, and recording artist. He was a choral scholar at King's College, Cambridge -- an adult-voice singer at the famous Choir of King's College Cambridge, receiving a full scholarship for singing daily services in the College Chapel during the school term. His major subject at Cambridge was English, but he received thorough musical and vocal training as a matter of course as a choral scholar.
After graduation, he studied voice with Rupert Bruce Lockhart. His operatic debut was in the Buxton festival, where he sang the part of Apollo in Ronald Eyre's production of Cavalli's Giasone in 1983. He was a member of Kent Opera for three seasons. In 1985, his European debut was in Lyon, as Andronico in Handel's Tamerlano (1985).
He rapidly established a strong reputation. He is one of the newer sort of countertenor, whose vocal production is well supported and natural-sounding. As the bulk of the countertenor repertory is in Baroque opera, he has sung Tolomeo in Handel's Giulio Cesare, Ottone in Handel's Agrippina and Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea, and as Orpheus in both the Gluck and Monteverdi operas.
However, he is equally admired for his performances in newer operas featuring countertenors, and his roles in twentieth century opera include Oberon in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream, the Voice of Apollo in the same composer's Death in Venice, the Military Governor in Judith Weir's A Night at the Chinese Opera, and in Harrison Birtwistle's The Second Mrs. Kong. The latter two parts were written for him, for he is active in promoting new works. Composers he has worked with include Alexander Goehr, Richard Rodney Bennett, John Tavener, Anthony Powers, Tan Dun, and Elvis Costello.
He has sung at major opera houses such as the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, La Scala of Milan, at Covent Garden in London, and in opera houses in New York, Paris, Amsterdam, Lisbon, and Sydney.
Chance has made over 50 recordings, including the Grammy Award-winning release of Handel's Semele with John Nelson conducting. Other recordings include Mozart's Ascanio in Alba, Goehr's The Death of Moses, and Rolf's Carmina burana as well as the major oratorios and choral works of Handel and Bach. He appears in major festivals, such as the Glyndebourne Summer Opera, the Edinburgh Festival, the Salzburg Festival, and the Aix-en-Provence Festival. His concert appearances have taken him to major cities of Europe, the United Kingdom, North America, Japan, and Australia.
As a chamber recitalist he often works with the Baroque viol ensemble Fretwork and with Trevor Pinnock and the English Concert. He teaches at the Royal College of Music as a Visiting Professor. |
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