John Mark Ainsley

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John Mark Ainsley
Born (1963-07-09) 9 July 1963 (age 60)
Lyric tenor
SpouseWilliam Whitehead
Awards

John Mark Ainsley

Britten
.

Early life and education

Ainsley was born in Crewe, Cheshire, the son of an Anglican priest and a teacher. He spent most of his childhood in Worcester and was educated at the Royal Grammar School Worcester (singing in the Worcester Cathedral Voluntary Choir), and Magdalen College, Oxford. He studied privately with Anthony Rolfe Johnson for five years and went to sing as a lay clerk at Christ Church. He later spent some time in Chicago where he studied with Diane Forlano, who remains his teacher to this day.[1]

Career

Ainsley made his official solo debut in 1987 when he sang in

Boston Symphony under Seiji Ozawa, the San Francisco Symphony under Jeffrey Tate, the Vienna Philharmonic under Trevor Pinnock, the Academy of St Martin in the Fields under Neville Marriner, and both the Orchestra of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino and the Orchestre de Paris under Carlo Maria Giulini among many others.[2]

His opera appearances include the role of Idamantes in

Glyndebourne festivals. Other roles have included Lensky in Eugene Onegin, Lysander in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream, David in Carl Nielsen's Saul og David, and Jupiter in Semele, the latter of which he performed to acclaim at the English National Opera in 1999. At the 2003 Salzburg Festival, he created the role of 'Der Daemon' in the world premiere of Hans Werner Henze's L'Upupa und der Triumph der Sohnesliebe, which he later reprised at the Teatro Real in Madrid.[1]

More recently, Ainsley has sung the roles of Soliman in

Dialogues des Carmelites with the Hamburg State Opera (2008), and both Bajazete in Tamerlano and the title role in Idomeneo with the Bavarian State Opera (2008). Ainsley sung the role of Emilio in Partenope with the English National Opera in the autumn of 2008 and returned for performances at the Bavarian State Opera and Berlin State Opera in 2009.[3] In 2010 his performance in the role of Captain Vere in Billy Budd was filmed by the Glyndebourne Festival for release in August 2010, and is streaming on Medici.tv.[4]

Awards

He was awarded the

Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2020 Birthday Honours for services to music.[5]

Personal life

In 2007 Ainsley entered into a civil partnership with organist William Whitehead.[6][7]

Ainsley was diagnosed with

leukaemia in 2016, and took the decision to retire from public performance, although he continues to work in music education.[8]

Recordings

Ainsley has made numerous recordings that range from Monteverdi to Britten. He regularly appears on radio and in the

La Resurrezione, Messiah, Joshua and Saul. He has also recorded numerous English and French songs including works by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Peter Warlock, Herbert Howells, Gerald Finzi and Gabriel Fauré
among others.

References

  1. ^ a b Jolly, Grove Music Online
  2. ^ "John Mark Ainsley- Bio, Albums, Pictures – Naxos Classical Music". Naxos.com. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  3. ^ "John Mark Ainsley, tenor :: Schedule". Operabase.com. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 18 December 2018.
  4. ^ "Opera Britten's Billy Budd - Glyndebourne". medici.tv. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  5. ^ "No. 63135". The London Gazette (Supplement). 10 October 2020. p. B11.
  6. ^ Christiansen, Rupert (1 October 2008). "John Mark Ainsley: I'm up for just about anything". Archived from the original on 2 October 2008. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  7. ^ "John-Mark and William". Helen Maybanks Photography. 18 September 2007. Archived from the original on 11 July 2011. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  8. ^ "John Mark Ainsley". Askonas Holt. Retrieved 27 February 2018.

Sources

External links

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