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The Australian baritone, Morgan Pearse, was born in 1988 of Danish and Australian heritage. He studied at the Sydney Conservatorium and University; and obtained his Master of Music degree in Music Performance, Classical Voice from the Royal College of Music International Opera School in London (2011-2013). He also participated in the Young Artist Programme of Houston Grand Opera (2014-2015). He won the Gold Medal at the Royal Overseas League’s Music Competition in 2013; won the prestigious Lies Askonas prize at the Royal College of Music in 2014; and won the first prize at the prestigious Cesti Competition in 2016. He has also won the John Warner Recital Competition, the RCM’s Schumann Competition, is a Samling Artist, an awardee from the Australian Music Foundation, the Tate Foundation, the Cook Society and the Josephine Baker Trust.
Morgan Pearse is a self employed freelance musician since January 2008. He is already widely recognised as one of the most exciting and talented baritones of his generation. In previous seasons, he has performed the title role of Imeneo in
George Frideric Handel's Imeneo with the London Handel Festival, Apollo in L’Orfeo in an Australian national tour of the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Principal Baritone in Dioclesian with Pinchgut Opera and the world premiere of Underground Man in Notes from Underground with Sydney Chamber Opera.
In the 2013-2014 season, Morgan Pearse performed the title role of Owen in Owen Wingrave for Sydney Chamber Opera, Pompeo in Benvenuto Cellini for English National Opera and Minos in
G.F. Handel's Arianna in Creta for the London Handel Festival. During the 2014-2015 season, whilst a member of the renowned Houston Grand Opera studio programme, he performed the roles of Papageno in
W.A. Mozart's The Magic Flute, Yamadori in Madame Butterfly and Anthony in Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd as well as covering Guglielmo in
W.A. Mozart's Così fan Tutte and singing scenes as Malatesta in Don Pasquale. He went on to perform the role of Figaro in The Ghosts of Versailles for Wolf Trap Opera.
Having made his professional debut with English National Opera in 2015-2016 singing Figaro in The Barber of Seville, Morgan Pearse returned to sing the role again at the beginning of the 2017-2018 season. The rest of this season included concerts with the
Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra and
Musica Viva Chamber Orchestra, Moscow in Russia and the
Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra at the Concertgebouw, his first solo recital at the Wigmore Hall with Simon Lepper, as well as performances of roles with Opera New Zealand and the Badisches Staatstheater. Previously, he has enjoyed success with performances of the title role in the Verbier Festival Academy production of
W.A. Mozart's Don Giovanni, Valens in
G.F. Handel's Theodora in the Karlsruhe Händelfestpiele, the title role in
W.A. Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro and Papageno in
W.A. Mozart's Die Zauberflöte for the Badisches Staatstheater, covering the title role in
Benjamin Britten's Billy Budd for the Bolshoi Theatre, Sid in
Benjamin Britten's Albert Herring for the Buxton Festival and Nero in
Reinhard Keiser's Octavia for the Innsbruck Festival of Early Music.
Equally at home in concert repertoire, Morgan Pearse's engagements have included the first performance of Schubert’s Winterreise in Sydney in 20 years,
Gabriel Fauré's Requiem and
G.F. Handel's Messiah in the Sydney Opera House, performances of
Benjamin Britten's War Requiem throughout Poland and
W.A. Mozart's Requiem with the English Chamber Orchestra. He has appeared at the Wigmore Hall, Purcell Room, Melbourne Recital Hall, Hamer Hall, Copenhagen’s Konserthuset, Sydney Opera House, St John’s Smith Square, Royal Festival Hall and Queen Elizabeth Hall, as well as the Edinburgh Fringe, Gower and Newbury Spring Festivals. Selected concert engagements include a solo recital at the Wigmore Hall, appearances with the Birmingham Philharmonic Orchestra,
Musica Viva Chamber Orchestra, Moscow, RTVE Madrid, Real Orquesta Sinfonica de Sevillia, Huddersfield Choral Society,
Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Russian National Orchestra, King’s College Choir Cambridge, Cheltenham Bach Choir and the
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra at the Newbury Festival.
He is extremely grateful for the continual support of the Hon. Ros Kelly, Old Sydneians’ Union, John Hosier Trust, Opera and Arts Support Group, Ian Potter Cultural Trust and Sir Robert Askin Travelling Operatic Scholarship. |
