Philip Sheffield studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the Royal College of Music before making his professional debut as a soloist in L’incoronazione di Poppea at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie. He has sung over 70 roles at many prestigious venues including The Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Teatro alla Scala (Milan), Teatro Nacional di Sao Carlos (Lisbon), Theatre de la Monnaie, Nederlandse Opera, Vlaamse Opera, English National Opera, Opera North, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Staatsteater Saarbrücken, Opera du Rhin (Strasbourg), Opera Comique (Paris), Opera de Nantes, München Biennale and the Savonlinna Festival in Finland.

 

Philip Sheffield has sung in a number of world premieres, including the lead role in Gerhard Stäblers Madame La Peste in Saarbrücken, King Edward IV Richard III and Concert Master La Prova d’Orchestra by Giorgio Batistelli at Vlaamse Opera, and Crom in House of the Gods by Lynne Plowman for Music Theatre Wales. He has sung in many twentieth century operas with two prize winning performances at the München Biennale in Hans Jurgen von Bose’s 63 Dream Palace and Terry Bond in Ben Mason’s Playing Away for Opera North. He has created roles in operas by Jonathan Dove, Alexander Goehr, Hans Jurgen Von Bose, Ben Mason, Michael Berkeley, Elena Firsova and Nicola Lefanu. In Saarbrücken his performance of the lead role in Gerhard Stäblers Madame La Peste was described by The Süddeutscher Zeitung as ”Strahlend bei Stimme und schön wie Che Guevara”.

Philip Sheffield’s other career highlights have included Pelléas Pelléas et Mélisande at the Opera Comique in Paris conducted by Georges Prêtre, Tom Rakewell The Rake’s Progress with Kazushi Ono at La Monnaie, Don Ottavio Don Giovanni with Leopold Hager at the Opera Comique.

Philip Sheffield’s recent concert engagements have included an international tour of Bach’s “Johannes Passion” with Paul Dombrecht and Il Fondamento singing the arias, Songs for Dov (Tippett) with the Orchestra of the Vlaamse Opera, and Vaughan Williams On Wenlock Edge in Gent and Antwerp, a recital in The Holders Festival in Barbados, Don Jose in a concert performance of Bizet’s Carmen with Terry Edwards, the tenor arias in The Matthew Passion at St John’s Smith Square and in Plymouth, Mahler 8th Symphony in The Sage, Gateshead, Verdi Requiem in Liverpool, and Harrison Birtwistle’s Last Supper in Milan and Turin with the London Sinfonietta under Elgar Howarth .

Philip Sheffield’s other concert performances have included several performances of Britten’s War Requiem, most notably at the Berlin Philharmonie on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the end of World War 2 in 2005, and in Luxembourg as part of that city’s celebration of holding the presidency of the EU, Britten’s Serenade for tenor, horn and strings in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Carmina Burana at the Schleswig Holstein Festival, Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius in Brussels with Yuri Simonov, Britten’s Nocturne in the Berlin Philharmonie and Montepulciano, Berio’s Sinfonia in Munich and Haydn’s L’isola disabitata in Vienna with Heinz Holliger. He has also performed with many leading orchestra’s in the contemporary field including the London Sinfonietta, Ensemble Modern, Ensemble Intercontemporaine, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group.

Recordings include (for television) Baa Baa Black Sheep by Michael Berkeley, The Merry Widow for the Royal Opera, (on CD) Liturgy of Orpheus by Markopolous with Jose Van Dam and Elena Kelessidi, Das Schloss by André Laporte, Baa Baa Black Sheep by Micheael Berkeley and Arianna by Alexander Goehr.

Philip Sheffield’s recent engagements include a return to the Opera du Rhin in Strasbourg for Richard III by Batistelli. He also recently sang Tom Rakewell The Rake’s Progress at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, The Prince Das Märchen (Emmanuel Nunes) at the Teatro Nacionale de Sao Carlos in Lisbon, one of the Five Kings in Robert Carsen’s production of Candide at the Theatre du Chatelet, the Teatro alla Scala in Milan (house début) and for English National Opera, and the leading tenor role Van Drunen Kwasi & Kwame by Jonathan Dove for Opera OT in Rotterdam. He made his Japanese début in the title role of Haydn’s Orlando in Tokyo, followed by Dr Caius in Falstaff for the Vlaamse Opera and Alonso in Tom Ades’ The Tempest at The Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.

Future engagements include Reverend Adams Peter Grimes at Vlaamse Opera, further performances of Candide in Japan, and the role of Robin in For You by Michael Berkeley to a libretto by Ian McEwan in Rome and on tour in Italy and Switzerland.