Gary Griffiths

Gary Griffiths was born in South-West Wales and studied opera at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where he was the 2009 winner of the prestigious Gold Medal Competition. He initially trained as an actor at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. In 2008 he was the winner of the MOCSA Young Welsh Singer of the Year Competition. He is currently an Associate Artist at Welsh National Opera. He studies with Robert Dean.

In opera, his recent appearances have included Guglielmo (Cosi fan Tutte) for Welsh National Opera, Belcore (L’elisir d’amore) and Germano (La Scala di Seta) for British Youth Opera; Dog and Innkeeper (The Cunning Little Vixen) for Grange Park Opera; and Count Almaviva (Le Nozze di Figaro), Dr Malatesta (Don Pasquale), L'Incognito (L'Assedio di Calais), Le Comte (Chérubin), Mr. Gedge (Albert Herring) Arsenio (La Spinalba) and Marquis de la Force (Dialogues des Carmelites) for the Guildhall School Opera.

His concert repertoire includes Mozart’s ‘Requiem’ and ‘Mass in C Minor’; Haydn’s ‘Die Jahreszeiten’, ‘Nelson Mass’ and ‘Paukenmesse’; Brahms’ ‘Ein Deutsches Requiem’; Duruflé’s ‘Requiem’; and Handel’s ‘Messiah’. He recently appeared in a gala performance at the National Eisteddfod of Wales with the Welsh Chamber Orchestra and the BBC Wales Chorus, and was the baritone soloist in a performance of ‘Belshazzar’s Feast’ at the Barbican Hall with the Guildhall Symphony Orchestra conducted by Martin Brabbins.

His recital appearances include King’s Place with Iain Burnside, the Ludlow English Song Weekend with Simon Lepper, the Chipping Campden Music Festival with Joel Harder, the Woodbridge Chamber Concert Series in Suffolk with Iain Burnside, and the Lower Machen Festival with Caradog Williams.

At Welsh National Opera he is generously supported by the Chris Ball Bursary.

Future plans in opera include Masetto (Don Giovanni) and Claudio (Beatrice and Benedict) for Welsh National Opera and in Summer 2012 Gary will sing Schaunard (La Boheme) at WNO under the baton of Carlo Rizzi. Future concert performances include Dvorak’s Te Deum at the Royal Albert Hall with the Philharmonia Orchestra and the Kings College Choir, Cambridge under the baton of Stephen Cleobury. Future plans on the recital platform include the Cowbridge Music Festival with Joseph Middleton and Schubert's Winterreise with Sholto Kynoch at the Oxford Lieder Festival.