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Bryn Terfel
Sir Bryn Terfel Jones (Welsh pronunciation: [ˈbrɨn ˈtɛrvɛl]; born 9 November 1965), is a Welsh bass-baritone opera and concert singer. Terfel was initially primarily associated with the roles of Mozart, particularly Figaro, Leporello and Don Giovanni, but he has subsequently shifted his attention to heavier roles, especially those by Puccini and Wagner.
Terfel was born in Pant Glas, Caernarfonshire, Wales, the son of a farmer. His first language is Welsh. He chose Bryn Terfel as his professional name to avoid confusion with another Welsh baritone, Delme Bryn-Jones. He had an interest in and talent for music from a young age. A family friend taught him how to sing, starting with traditional Welsh songs.
After winning numerous competitions for his singing, Terfel moved to London in 1984 and entered the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he studied under Rudolf Piernay. In 1988, he entered and won the Morriston Orpheus Choir Supporters' Association Young Welsh Singer of the Year Competition. He graduated in 1989, winning the Kathleen Ferrier Memorial Award and the Gold Medal. The same year, he came second behind Dmitri Hvorostovsky in the Cardiff Singer of the World competition, winning the Lieder Prize.
In 1990 Terfel made his operatic debut as Guglielmo in Così fan tutte for Welsh National Opera. Later in the same season, he sang the title role in The Marriage of Figaro, a role with which he made his debut with English National Opera in 1991.
His international operatic career began that same year when he sang the Speaker in Mozart's The Magic Flute at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels, and made his United States debut as Figaro at the Santa Fe Opera.
In 1992, Terfel made his Royal Opera House, Covent Garden debut as Masetto in Don Giovanni, with Thomas Allen in the title role. That same year, he made his Salzburg Easter Festival debut singing the role of the Spirit Messenger in Die Frau ohne Schatten. This was followed by an international breakthrough at the main Salzburg Festival when he sang Jochanaan in Strauss's Salome. He went on to make his debut as Figaro at the Vienna State Opera.
On 19 June 1992, Terfel made his U.S. concert debut singing in Mahler's Eighth Symphony with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Ravinia Festival under the baton of James Levine. Also at the festival, on 22 June, he and Levine (at the piano) performed Schumann's Liederkreis (op. 39) and Schubert's Schwanengesang, and on 27 June, he was Abimélech in Saint-Saëns's Samson and Delilah (with Plácido Domingo and Denyce Graves in the title roles), also with the CSO under Levine. In January and February 1993, Terfel sang the role of Donner in Wagner's Das Rheingold at Lyric Opera of Chicago; Zubin Mehta conducted.
Also in 1992, he signed an exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon and returned to the Welsh National Opera to sing Ford in Falstaff. In 1993, he recorded the role of Wilfred Shadbolt in The Yeomen of the Guard, by Gilbert and Sullivan and sang Figaro to acclaim at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris.
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Bryn Terfel
Sir Bryn Terfel Jones (Welsh pronunciation: [ˈbrɨn ˈtɛrvɛl]; born 9 November 1965), is a Welsh bass-baritone opera and concert singer. Terfel was initially primarily associated with the roles of Mozart, particularly Figaro, Leporello and Don Giovanni, but he has subsequently shifted his attention to heavier roles, especially those by Puccini and Wagner.
Terfel was born in Pant Glas, Caernarfonshire, Wales, the son of a farmer. His first language is Welsh. He chose Bryn Terfel as his professional name to avoid confusion with another Welsh baritone, Delme Bryn-Jones. He had an interest in and talent for music from a young age. A family friend taught him how to sing, starting with traditional Welsh songs.
After winning numerous competitions for his singing, Terfel moved to London in 1984 and entered the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he studied under Rudolf Piernay. In 1988, he entered and won the Morriston Orpheus Choir Supporters' Association Young Welsh Singer of the Year Competition. He graduated in 1989, winning the Kathleen Ferrier Memorial Award and the Gold Medal. The same year, he came second behind Dmitri Hvorostovsky in the Cardiff Singer of the World competition, winning the Lieder Prize.
In 1990 Terfel made his operatic debut as Guglielmo in Così fan tutte for Welsh National Opera. Later in the same season, he sang the title role in The Marriage of Figaro, a role with which he made his debut with English National Opera in 1991.
His international operatic career began that same year when he sang the Speaker in Mozart's The Magic Flute at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels, and made his United States debut as Figaro at the Santa Fe Opera.
In 1992, Terfel made his Royal Opera House, Covent Garden debut as Masetto in Don Giovanni, with Thomas Allen in the title role. That same year, he made his Salzburg Easter Festival debut singing the role of the Spirit Messenger in Die Frau ohne Schatten. This was followed by an international breakthrough at the main Salzburg Festival when he sang Jochanaan in Strauss's Salome. He went on to make his debut as Figaro at the Vienna State Opera.
On 19 June 1992, Terfel made his U.S. concert debut singing in Mahler's Eighth Symphony with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Ravinia Festival under the baton of James Levine. Also at the festival, on 22 June, he and Levine (at the piano) performed Schumann's Liederkreis (op. 39) and Schubert's Schwanengesang, and on 27 June, he was Abimélech in Saint-Saëns's Samson and Delilah (with Plácido Domingo and Denyce Graves in the title roles), also with the CSO under Levine. In January and February 1993, Terfel sang the role of Donner in Wagner's Das Rheingold at Lyric Opera of Chicago; Zubin Mehta conducted.
Also in 1992, he signed an exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon and returned to the Welsh National Opera to sing Ford in Falstaff. In 1993, he recorded the role of Wilfred Shadbolt in The Yeomen of the Guard, by Gilbert and Sullivan and sang Figaro to acclaim at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris.