| Biography | Keith Lewis was born in Methven, New Zealand. He received his early musical training in Canterbury, New Zealand. His first professional engagements included the role of tenor soloist in the St Matthew Passion and a nationwide tour with the New Opera Quartet.
He arrived in London in 1974 to study at the London Opera Centre and subsequently won the Kathleen Ferrier Prize, the Royal Overseas League Prize and the John Christie Award. He quickly made his mark in the Mozartian operatic roles of Ferrando (Cosi fan tutte) Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni), and Tamino (Der Zauberflöte). Over the course of his career he has sung these roles at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, Glyndebourne, Opera de Paris, Zurich Opera, Deutsche Oper, Chicago Lyric Opera, San Francisco Opera and many others.
His early career was influenced greatly by Sir George Solti and Carlo Maria Giulini. Solti suggested the role of Faust in Berlioz Damnation of Faust and since that time Keith Lewis has been regarded as among the great interpreters of that role. With Giulini he spent many years collaborating on works by Bach, Mozart, Mahler, Britten and Verdi, many of which were recorded. He later added the roles of Titus (La Clemenza di Tito) and the title role from Idomeneo to his repertoire, which he continues to sing today. He also formed a productive relationship with Giuseppe Sinopoli, making several recordings including Mahlers 8th Symphony and Das Lied von der Erde. In addition, he has worked with the conductors Claudio Abbado, Pierre Boulez, Colin Davis, Andrew Davis, Nicholas Harnoncourt, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, Sir Charles Mackerras, Sir Neville Marriner, Seiji Ozawa, and many others.
Lewis has a large and varied concert and lieder repertoire ranging from the baroque to contemporary music.
His recording highlights include Don Giovanni (Haitink), Damnation of Faust (Chung), Messiah (Solti), Berlioz Requiem (Bertini), Haydn Masses (Marriner), as well as a variety of recordings for Trust Records.
In 2000 Keith Lewis was created a Companion of the Order of Merit |