David Wilson-Johnson bass
The British baritone David Wilson-Johnson was born in Northampton and studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London, having also read Modern Languages at St Catharine's College, Cambridge. Over a career spanning thirty years he has sung under many distinguished conductors including Pierre Boulez, Frans Brüggen, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Gustav Leonhardt, Sir Charles Mackerras, André Previn and Sir Simon Rattle.
David’s operatic appearances include Boris Godunov, Arianna, Cosí fan tutte and Die Zauberflöte (all at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden); Billy Budd (ENO, ROH, Opera Bastille); Tristan und Isolde (Monte Carlo); and Sir Michael Tippett's A Midsummer Marriage and Messiaen's St François d'Assise for television.
In recent years he has appeared at the BBC Proms in Taverner’s The Whale and in the title role of Tippett’s King Priam, as well as appearances in A Child of our Time with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and, with Charles Dutoit, in Berlioz’ Roméo et Juliette with the Philadelphia Orchestra and La Damnation de Faust with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
His discography combines the traditional — Bach with Gustav Leonhardt and Carl Maria Giulini, Beethoven with Sir Charles Mackerras and Schoenberg with Oliver Knussen — with contemporary pieces including Tubular Bells with Mike Oldfield as part of Angel Choir and Bootleg Chorus, and the film Goodbye to Broad Street.