CHRISTOPHER FIELD - COUNTERTENOR
Christopher Field holds a Diploma of Music in piano
performance. He was the recipient of the Australian Postgraduate Award for his
Masters studies in voice at the University of Melbourne and is a graduate of
The Royal Academy of Music, London, where he obtained the DipRAM in Opera.
These studies were supported by the Rae and Edith Bennett Scholarship and the
Josephine Baker Trust. He has been awarded many prizes and scholarships
throughout his student years in both pianoforte and singing, including the Marten
Bequest in 2001/2.
Opera Tableaux with Royal Academy Opera have included:
Rameau Les Indes Galantes, Handel Orlando and Scipio, and
Rossini's La Gazza Ladra and Aureliano in Palmira. Engagements
include: Polinesso in Handel’s Ariodante with Stopera, and Oberon
in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream
with Co*Opera. He has also sung the role of Waki-tsure in
Crispin-Cresswell’s The Nameless Dead
with Stopera, John Adams’ El Nino at the Sydney Opera House and Military
Governor in Judith Weir’s A Night at
the Chinese Opera. Others include Rinaldo in Handel’s Rinaldo with
RAO (UK), and Tolomeo in Handel’s Giulio Cesare with Opera Australia for
which he was nominated for a Green Room Award and a Helpmann Award. 2008 saw him
as Spirit in Dido and Aeneas in the Temple Festival (London). He appeared in Jiří Kylián's ballet production of Bella Figura with The Australian Ballet and also with the late choreographer Pina Bausch in Palermo Palermo with Tanztheater Wuppertal at Sadler's Wells, London.
He has worked as soloist in concert with orchestras
including The Sydney Philharmonia, Orchestra Victoria and The Melbourne
Symphony Orchestra. In 2009 he debuted with The City of Birmingham Symphony
Orchestra in Stravinsky's Threni and A Sermon, A Narrative and A Prayer. He is
a member of the acclaimed contemporary music ensemble EXAUDI and he appeared in
recital at the Queille Festival (France) with pianist Julius Drake. He has
performed with ensembles including The Kings Consort, The Gabrieli Consort, Ex
Cathedra, Tenebrae, The Binchois Consort, A Capella Portuguesa, and most
recently Collegium Vocale Ghent, conducted by Philippe Herreweghe.
In 2009 he made his debut with the Komische Oper
Berlin in the role of Arkane in Handel's Teseo and debuted also with the Dresden Semperoper as Nireno
in Handel's Giulio Cesare. In 2010, he covered the role of Oberon in Baz
Luhrmann's production of A Midsummer
Night's Dream for Opera Australia and returned to the Dresden Semperoper
for further performances of Giulio
Cesare. In 2011, he sings Armindo (Partenope)
for Opera Australia. 2012 sees him returning to Opera Australia and 2012/13 sees him in Strasbourg as Bruno in the premiere of Stefano Gervasoni's 'Limbus Limbo' and in 2013 he returns to Opera Australia for performances of Handel's Partenope.
Christopher Field appears as countertenor soloist on a
number of recordings: Zelenka’s Litanies of St Francis Xavier and Tobias
Hume’s A Souldier’s Resolution (Move Records) and Handel’s Messiah (ABC Classics). Other releases include Handel Cantatas with Accademia
Arcadia (Tall Poppies), The Food of Love with Salut! Baroque, A Noble
Noyse of Musicke with the Netherlands-based ensemble The Royal Wind Music and Nobody
Does It Better (Fleet Records). He has recorded several discs on the Signum
label with the ensemble Tenebrae, on NMC with EXAUDI and on Hyperion with the British ensemble
Polyphony including Cloudburst which
earned a Grammy nomination. He recently recorded the soundtrack for the Australian TV
mini-series ‘Cloudstreet’ for Showtime Foxtel.
