David Butt Philip

David Butt Philip, born in 1980 and raised in Wells, Somerset, is one of the leading British tenors of his generation, increasingly in demand internationally for the heavier lyric and dramatic repertoire. A chorister at Peterborough Cathedral as a boy, he studied at the University of Liverpool, the Royal Northern College of Music and the Royal Academy of Music before training at the National Opera Studio in London. He began as a baritone in the Glyndebourne chorus before retraining as a tenor, was a Jette Parker Young Artist at the Royal Opera House, and has sung roles ranging from Rodolfo and Pinkerton to Grigori in Boris Godunov. His powerful, ringing tone and dramatic commitment make him an ideal Gerontius, one of the great challenges of the tenor repertoire.