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The Danish tenor, Adam Riis, studied at The Royal Danish Academy of Music from 2000 to 2005, and is a Malcolm Martineau Crear Scholar 2012. Teachers in that period and afterwards include Anthony Rolfe-Johnson, Andreas Schmidt, Josef Protschka and Tonny Landy.
Adam Riis' concert repertoire varies from Monteverdi (Vespro), Heinrich Schütz (Evangelist in the Passions and Weihnacht-Historie), Dietrich Buxtehude (Membra Jesu), George Frideric Handel (Messiah), J.S. Bach (Evangelist in the two Passions (BWV 244, BWV 245) and Weihnachts-Oratorium (BWV 248)), to W.A. Mozart, Haydn, Benjamin Britten and Orff (Carmina Burana).
As a Lieder singer, Adam Riis has an extensive partnership with pianist Christian Westergaard, with whom he has performed the great Cycles by Schubert, Robert Schumann and B. Britten in the Danish based Liedkompagniet. In 2009 they participated in competitions in Wigmore Hall and Thomas Quasthoff’s Das Lied in Berlin, where they reached the semifinals.
Highlights so far have been concerts and recording of the tenor part in Per Nørgård Libra with Eric Ericson Chamber Choir and DR VokalEnsemblet conducted by Fredrik Malmberg, W.A. Mozart's Requiem with Stefan Solyom and Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, J.S. Bach's Kafeekantate (BWV 211) with Arte Dei Suonatori, Thomas Jennefelt's Dixit Dominus with Ensemble Kaleidoskop and Olof Boman at the Nordlichter Festival in Berlin and Gloger Festival, Monteverdi's Vespro Della Beate Vergine with Paul Hillier and Concerto Copenhagen, concerts with music by Henry VIII led by Andrew Lawrence-King, W.A. Mozart's Krönungsmesse with Sao Paolo Symphony Orchestra, the arias in J.S. Bach's Matthäus Passion (BWV 244 and Haydn's Thersesien-Messe with Concerto Copenhagen and Lars Ulrik Mortensen, L.v. Beethoven's Messe in C with Danish National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Thomas Dausgaard, the same piece with Malmö Symphony Orchestra and Vassily Sinaisky, the Evangelist in Johannespassion and Weihnacht-Historie by H. Schütz with Paul Hillier and Concerto Copenhagen, first performance in Denmark of Arvo Pärt's Miserere, at the Estonian composer’s Sonning Prize concert, with Athelas Sinfonietta Copenhagen conducted by Paul Hillier, and Nordic Cantatas by D. Buxtehude, Geist and Förster at De Oosterpoort in Groningen, Holland.
Adam Riis has recorded the Evangelist in H. Schütz' Weihnacht-Historie for Dacapo, nominated for a Gramophone Award, the similar part in H. Schütz' Johannespassion and Jesus in Sieben Worte, tenor soloist in Scandinavian Cantatas by D. Buxtehude with Grammy Award Winners Theater of Voices, tenor soloist in Monteverdi's Vespro delle beata vergine, songs by contemporary composer Ib Nørholm with pianist Christian Westergaard, Baroque Ballads with harpsichordist Lars Ulrik Mortensen, and the tenor part in Per Nørgård's Libra for the Danish Radio. He married Ellen Marie Vestager on May 2, 2015, and currently lives in Frederiksberg, enmark |
