Maciek O'Shea

Born in London, Maciek O'Shea read History at University College London. After leaving university he became a lay clerk at Christ Church Cathedral Oxford where he recorded and broadcasted with the choir directed by Stephen Darlington. He can now be found singing with HM Chapel Royal Choir at St James' Palace directed by Andrew Gant where he has been a lay clerk since 2002. He has just completed the postgraduate singing course at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Maciek has performed widely on the concert platform. Highlights include: Ein Duetches Requiem (Brahms) with members of the BBC Symphony Orchestra directed by Susan Digby; Missa Solemnis (Beethoven) directed by David Goode; B Minor Mass (Bach) with the London Mozart Players directed by Joseph Nolan at St John's Smith Square; Pilate in the St John Passion (Bach) with Christ Church Cathedral Choir under Stephen Darlington; and Carmina Burana (Orf) at the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford.

On stage Maciek has most recently taken the roles of Fiorello, The Barber of Seville (Rossini) for Hand Made Opera; Sorceress and Spirit, Dido and Aeneas (Purcell); Adonis, Venus and Adonis (Blow) both for New Chamber Opera; Guglielmo, Cosi fan tutte (Mozart) for Opera Thrills; and Roger, Ciboulette (Hahn) for University College Opera at the Bloomsbury Theatre. Other roles include Zoroastro, Orlando (Handel); Luka, The Bear (Walton); Orlick, Mazeppa (Tchaikovsky); Rocco, The Jewels of the Madonna (Wolf-Ferrari); and 1st Man in the British Premiere of Aulis Sallinen's Kullervo.

Maciek has performed every year at the Oxford Lieder Festival since its founding in 2002. His most recent contributions came in October 2005 with a performance of Myrten (Schumann) with Susan Young (soprano) and Ian Farrington (piano) while in October 2004 he performed Die Schone Magelone (Brahms) with Sholto Kynoch (piano) and Simon Callow providing an English language narration.

In July 2005 Maciek was the winner of the 2005 Thames Valley Young Musicians' Platform (part of the Oxfordshire youth music trust).