David Hamilton

Tenor

A tenor with a distinguished career in the fields of opera, oratorio and concert repertoire, David is originally from Scotland, where he graduated in singing and flute at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and he has built a strong reputation and performed extensively throughout Australia, New Zealand, Germany and the UK.

He moved to Sydney in 1979 and was an early member of The Song Company, Australia’s premier a cappella vocal ensemble for 7 years after which he went freelance. Performances have included tenor roles in most of the major oratorios with all the major orchestras in Australia and New Zealand; and he has also performed to critical acclaim throughout Asia and was awarded the Australian Centenary Medal in 2001.

David's repertoire encompasses an extraordinarily wide range, from Handel's Messiah and Haydn's Creation to 20th century masterpieces such as Britten's War Requiem and Elgar's Dream of Gerontius.

Operatic tenor roles include the title role in Britten's Albert HerringTurn of the Screw and male chorus in the Rape of LucretiaDie Entführung aus dem Serail and Loge in Wagner's Das Rheingold.

David relocated to Germany from 2007 to 2012, where he sang the title role in Mozart's Idomeneo in Neu Munster, performed the title role in Lohengrin for Saarbrucken Opera and in the same role, understudied Peter Seiffert in Luxemburg.

Other works include: recitals of Schubert, Schumann, Haydn and Beethoven repertoire (he recorded Beethoven’s Scottish Lieder for Brilliant Classics in 2008).

Beethoven’s 9^th Symphony (Panama City and Edinburgh Festival), Schubert’s Die Winterreise and the tenor role in Ricci’s opera Le prigione di Edimburgo. In Berlin and Lübeck respectively, David performed Dvorak’s Die Geisterbraut with Berliner Cappella Choir and Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde and the role of Tamino in The Magic Flute. David returned to live in Sydney in 2012, to work with Opera Australia.

In recent years, David’s New Zealand engagements included, Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius for Auckland Choral; Mendelssohn’s St Paul for Bach Musica and the Messiah with City Choir Dunedin.

In 2014, he returned to Germany and Poland to sing Dvorak’s Stabat Mater with Berliner Choir and in New Zealand sang the Evangelist in St John’s Passion for Bach Musica NZ and performed in the Mozart Requiem under the baton of Paul Fitzsimon with Willoughby Symphony.

Recent solo performances include: the Polymnia Ensemble, Sydney Graduate Choir, Willoughby Symphony, Leichhardt Espresso Chorus, City Choir Dunedin, Auckland Chorale and Christchurch City Choir, New Zealand.

In 2016, David covers the enormous role of Siegfried in Wagner’s The Ring for Opera Australia.