| Biography | The English tenor, Vernon Kirk, studied music at King's College, London and singing at the Royal Academy of Music, London.
Operatic engagements include Rector Adams in Peter Grimes for Theater Aachen 2006, Brighella in Ariadne auf Naxos by R. Strauss for L'Opera de Nice 2004, Flamand (cover)(Capriccio, R. Strauss) for Teatro Lirico di Cagliari 2003, Guglielmo (Viva la Mamma, Donizetti), Mollfels (Scherz, Satire, Ironie und tiefere Bedeutung, Glanert), Herod (Jesus Christ Superstar, Lloyd Webber), Chantal of Avignon in La Cage aux Folles by Herman, for the Volkstheater Rostock, Germany. Other operatic engagements include Ferrando in Cosi Fan Tutte by Mozart for the Brandenburger Theater, and Tamino in The Magic Flute by Mozart for the Bad Hersfelder Sommerfestspiele 2000, for which he was awarded the Festival Orpheusprize. Engagements in 2008-2009 included the roles of Arioch in GeorgE Frideric Handel's Belshazzar conducted by René Jacobs at the Deutsche Staatsoper, Unter den Linden, Berlin, Festival Aix-en-Provence, and the Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alte Musik, and 2nd Nazarene in Strausss Salome conducted by Pinchas Steinberg for LOpèra de Toulouse.
As a concert singer Vernon Kirk has sung with many leading conductors and ensembles. He was soloist in J.S. Bach's Magnificat (BWV 243) / G.F. Handel's Dixit Dominus with Emmanuelle Haïm and Le Concert d'Astrée at the Theatre de Caen 2007 (also broadcast live on French television), and in Bach Cantatas with Sir John Eliot Gardiner and the English Baroque Soloists at the Zurich Festival 2000. BBC Prom appearances have included the premiere of Carl Rütti's Alpha et Omega with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Stephen Jackson, and Berlioz L'Enfance du Christ with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under David Atherton. He performed Haydn's Creation under Sir David Willcocks at the Royal Albert Hall, London, and is an experienced performer in the role of the Evangelist in J.S. Bach's St Matthew Passion (BWV 244) and St John Passion (BWV 245). His broadcasts for BBC Radio include Benjamin Britten's Serenade for tenor, horn and strings and his Cantata The Company of Heaven, Johannes Brahms Liebeslieder Walzer and Alpha et Omega by Carl Rütti. (2014) |