ANDREW ASHWIN
Andrew grew up in the north-east of England, and began his musical life as a pianist and trombonist. He took up singing aged 17, and continued at the University of Birmingham, where he studied with Andrea Calladine. In 2005 he completed postgraduate singing at the Royal College of Music with Russell Smythe.
In the season 2007/2008 he made a highly successful debut at the Frankfurt Opera as Junius within a new production by Dale Duesing of The Rape of Lucretia. In February 2008 he sang Schubert’s Winterreise with renown pianist and conductor Justus Frantz.
During the season 2008/2009 he is member of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, where he has sung in the gala concert opening the season and can be heard as Morales in a new production of Carmen, Marullo in Rigoletto, Papageno in the version for children in Die Zauberflöte and other both smaller and middle-sized roles.
In October 2008 he sang Beethoven’s An die ferne Geliebte for the opening of the Bad Urach Festival / Germany, in December a gala concert at the Vlaamse Opera in Gent and in May 2009 he will make his role debut as Britten’s Owen Wingrave in Vienna, within a new production by Nicola Raab.
Engagements during the 2009/2010 season include a new production of Billy Budd in Bilbao, his debut with Opera Ireland as Mercutio in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, a new production of Cavalli’s Il Giasone (singing Oreste and Besso) at the Vlaamse Opera, conducted by Ottavio Dantone and an opera gala in Malaysia.
From 2006 until June 2008 he was member of the prestigious Zurich Opera Studio and could be heard at the Zurich Opera House in various operas, including a new production of Ariadne auf Naxos, as Mackheath in Britten's Beggar's Opera and in the role of the Forester in an adaptation for children of Leos Janácek's The Cunning Little Vixen.
During summer 2007 he sang arias and duets in open air gala concerts in front of German castles in Karlsruhe, Saarbrücken, Koblenz and Wiesbaden together with Keith Ikaia-Purdy, Barbara Dobrzanska and Stella Grigorian. Furthermore in July 2007 he appeared at the Netherlands OPERA! Festival as Alfio in Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana. In November 2007 he made his role debut as Guglielmo in Così fan tutte in Heilbronn / Germany.
A CD on the Naxos with Handel Chandos anthems in which Andrew sings alongside James Bowman and a DVD of Ariadne auf Naxos with Christoph von Dohnányi have been released in 2007.
During the season 2005/2006 he took part at the Flanders International Opera Studio in the city of Gent, Belgium, where he sang parts such as Escamillo (Carmen) and Elviro (Serse).
In the early days of his career has performed both Figaro and Count Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro, the title role in Don Giovanni, Papageno in The Magic Flute, Marcello and Schaunard in La Bohème for smaller companies in the UK.
He has appeared as soloist with choirs including Hertfordshire Chorus (Brahms Requiem, 2004), Cirencester Choral Society (Samson, 2002), Winchester Music Society (King Arthur, 2004), Newcastle Bach Choir (Belshazzar, 2005), English Baroque Choir (Dixit Dominus, 2004), Ely Choral Society (St John Passion, 2004), Southend Bach Choir (Messiah, 2003), Leighton Buzzard Choral Society (Duruflé Requiem, 2005), Birmingham University Singers (Israel in Egypt, 2004), Arun Choral Society (Mozart Requiem, 2005) and St Ives Choral Society (Duruflé Requiem, 2004). In December 2004 Andrew was delighted to return to Birmingham's Symphony Hall to sing Mozart's Requiem with his former university choir.
He has also appeared with the acclaimed Birmingham choir Ex Cathedra for a BBC recording of Carmina Burana (2002). On Good Friday 2003 he sang arias from Bach's St Matthew Passion in Southwell Minster. Recently he has worked with artists including James Bowman, Emma Kirkby, Catherine Bott, James Gilchrist, Robin Blaze, Rogers Covey-Crump, Charles Daniels and John Rutter, and he sang solos in Mozart’s Mass in C in the presence of HRH The Earl of Wessex in Windsor Castle. At the Royal College of Music Andrew sang in choruses conducted by Bernard Haitink, Peter Schreier and Sir David Willcocks.
In Summer 2004 Andrew was awarded with distinction the Licentiate of the Royal Schools of Music Diploma in Performance, and at the Royal College of Music he was sponsored by the John Lewis Partnership and the Anthony Saltmarsh Award.
Recently Andrew performed a series of solo recitals in Cambridgeshire and Suffolk, as well as concerts in his home county, Northumberland. His interest in song spans a wide range of repertoire, including Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Fauré, Duparc, Poulenc, Bellini, Tchaikovsky, Grieg, Finzi, Ireland, Vaughan Williams, Barber, Bliss and many others.
He has performed in master classes with David Owen Norris, Sarah Walker, Peter Harvey and Iain Burnside at the Royal College of Music, and he is delighted to have been coached by the distinguished pianists Malcolm Martineau and Roger Vignoles.
Andrew has worked as soloist alongside many internationally renowned singers, and has sung under the baton of Bernard Haitink, Christoph von Dohnányi, Maurizio Barbacini, Marc Minkowksi and Carlo Rizzi.
k, Christoph von Dohnányi, Maurizio Barbacini, Marc Minkowksi and Carlo Rizzi.
