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The English bass, David Hansford, began his interest in music aged three, when he started learning the piano and increased as he took up the violin, viola and bassoon. After leaving school he studied composition, first at the Birmingham Conservatoire, obtaining his Bachelor of Music degree in Composition (First Class: 2003-2007); and later at the Royal College of Music (RCM), obtaining his Postgraduate Diploma in Composition (2007-2009); and when it became clear that his future lay on the opera stage he enrolled in the postgraduate course in voice at the RCM (Master of Music degree in Opera: 2009-2011) and progressed from there into the Opera School (Artist Diploma: 2011-2013). During his studies he was Choral Scholar at Birmingham Cathedral (January 2006-August 2007); Gentleman of the Chapel Royal at Hampton Court Palace (September 2007-August 2009); Teacher of Voice at Kings School, Rochester (November 2011-December 2015).
David Hansford is a freelance musician since 2014 with a wide variety of freelance work, including opera, choral singing and teaching. Since graduating, he has performed extensively across the UK in a wide range of roles, with personal highlights including Daland in Der Fliegende Holländer with the Slaithwaith Philharmonic Orchestra and Focus Opera, Sarastro in a number of productions of W.A. Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, Colline in La boheme, and creating leading roles in several contemporary operas.
Critically acclaimed for his ‘sonorous’ bass voice, David Hansford has performed more than 20 principal roles and regularly appears on stages throughout the UK and increasingly in Europe. Equally comfortable in comic and serious roles, his repertoire ranges from Monteverdi to modern commissions, covering W.A. Mozart, Verdi, Wagner, Puccini, Offenbach and Benjamin Britten on the way, and his numerous concert performances cover everything from J.S. Bach onwards. In addition, he was Professional Singer in Philharmonia Chorus (February 2010-February 2020).
In the 2014-2015 season David Hansford appeared as Marquis La Traviata (Opera South), Sciarrone/Carceriere Tosca (English Opera Ensemble), Hangman The Three Wayfarers (Opera Anywhere), Mortimer Wheeler in The Archeologist’s Wife (National Museum of Wales/University of South Wales) and Sarastro/Sprecher in W.A. Mozart's Die Zauberflöte (Pavilion Opera). He is also a regular fixture as a soloist on the concert platform and continues to be active as a choral singer, where is frequently called upon to produce the extremely low notes in Sergei Rachmaninov's Vespers and Gustav Mahler's Resurrection Symphony and works extensively with Edvard Grieg Kor in Norway (since December 2014).
Since moving to Norway, David Hansford has featured as a soloist with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra (Lera Auerbach’s The Infant Minstrel, L.v. Beethoven's Choral Fantasia, the Thief in Grieg’s Peer Gynt), Bergen National Opera (Yamadori/Bonzo in Madama Butterfly, Montano in Otello and Tsar Ivan in Leonard Bernstein's Candide), Bergen Cathedral Choir (Jesus in J.S. Bach's Johannes-Passion BWV 245, Christus in J.S. Bach's Matthäus-Passion BWV 244, Monteverdi’s Vespers, Rautavaara’s Vigilia, George Frideric Handel's Messiah and Jesus in Arvo Pärt's Passio), Collegium Musicum (G.F. Handel's Dixit Dominus, J.S. Bach's Weihnachts-Oratorium BWV 248), Trondheim Symphony Orchestra (Yamadori in Madama Butterfly) and the Philip Glass Ensemble (basso profondo soloist in Powaqqatsi). He first sang with Edvard Grieg Kor in December 2014, as part of the semi-chorus in Berlioz Roméo et Juliette, with Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. In January 2015 he performed in his first a cappella concert with the ensemble, and became a permanent member in August that year. He currently lives in Bergen, Hordaland, Norway. |
