Mark Oldfield - international baritone: biography • concerts


	Concerts

Mark Oldfield was born in Sheffield and grew up in Suffolk, and gained a BA (Hons) degree in music in Colchester before studying singing at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, in the Opera School of the Royal College of Music in London and at the Britten-Pears School for Advanced Musical Studies in Snape, Suffolk.

Mark has sung in concerts and oratorio throughout Britain and round the world. His extensive repertoire ranges from Baroque and classical through to contemporary works. Concert highlights in 2010 included the bass arias in Bach’s St Matthew Passion in Ely Cathedral at Easter, a recital in the Casa dei Mezzo Festival in Crete in June, and Walton’s Belshazar's Feast and Vaughan Williams’ Sea Symphony at the Snape Maltings in July.

Concerts

On the concert platform Mark’s performances have included the Chandos Anthems with the English Chamber Orchestra at the Barbican Centre in London under Sir Charles Mackerras; Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with the Japanese/UK Choir at The Queen Elizabeth Hall, London; Handel’s Israel in Egypt with the London Oriana Choir at St Johns Smith Square; Carmina Burana in Lagos, Nigeria for the British Council, in Ipswich Corn Exchange in Suffolk, at Christ College in Brecon Powys, at the Snape Maltings Suffolk, and with Monmouth Choral Society.

He has sung Vaughan Williams’ Sea Symphony at the Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh; Brahms’ Requiem in Arundel Cathedral and in Guernsey; Dyson’s Canterbury Tales and Tchaikowsky’s Moskow Cantata in Colchester Town Hall; Bach’s St Matthew Passion on the Wirral; Berlioz’ L’Enfant du Christ in Leicester Cathedral; Mozart’s Mass in C with the Bournmouth Sinfonia Choir and the Chandos Orchestra at Sherbourne Abbey Dorset; Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the City Of Southampton Orchestra and in St John’s, Smith Square, London; and Bach’s Magnificat in Las Palmas Gran Canaria, and with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra under Nicholas Kraemer. He has also sung baritone solos in Will Todd's Midwinter with Ralph Woodward, the Fairhaven Singers and the Cambridge Philharmonic Orchestra.

Mark’s festival work includes appearances in Istanbul, Brighton, Buxton, Edinburgh and Dubai. In 2010 Mark sang for the third time at the Casa dei Mezzo Festival in Crete (www.casadeimezzo-festival.com).

Recitals

Mark has given solo recitals in Lagos Nigeria for the British Council, and in Paris at Chateau de la Muette, Bonnieux in France, Casa dei Mezzo Festival in Crete and throughout Britain. His repertoire includes Ravel’s Don Quichotte and Poulenc’s Le Bestiaire, Schumann’s Liederkreiss (Eichendorf), and Britten’s Tit for Tat. Mark has sung for Royalty at St James’s and Kensington Palaces and at numerous charitable events throughout the UK and abroad.

In the coming season Mark has three recital projects. Flights of Fancy and Fantasy is a spirited musical adventure into a world of dreams and mythical characters.

Mark’s latest collaboration is with the Trio dei Mezzo, whom he met when performing at the Casa dei Mezzo Festival in Crete. Their All Beethoven programme celebrates the genius of this popular composer.

Mark regularly performs with Belle and Two Beaux, a duo with mezzo soprano Janet Shell and pianist John Flinders, in a costumed performance of Victorian songs and readings of correspondence between Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. This programme has been featured on Classic FM.

Opera and operetta

Mark has given concerts of opera and operetta in a wide range of venues, including classical music cruises with P&O liners Oriana, Aurora and Artemis with presenters Richard Baker OBE and John Brunning from Classic FM. He has also performed on board Cunard’s QE2 and Caronia (on their world cruise), Seabourn Legend, Spirit and Pride, The Saga Rose (around the Baltics), MS Amadeus (down the Danube) and MS Pakomov (down the Volga, from St Petersburg to Moscow).