Richard Eteson

Richard Eteson

Richard Eteson (b.1975) is a hugely versatile and experienced tenor vocalist, arranger and composer. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Starting his musical life as a choirboy in Bingley, West Yorkshire, Richard went on to become Head Chorister at King’s College, Cambridge, a Music Scholar at Shrewsbury School, before returning to King’s as a tenor Choral Scholar (studying Japanese and English) under the direction of Sir Stephen Cleobury. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ After graduating, Richard became a Choirman of The Temple Church, London and sang with many of London’s finest choirs, consort groups and session choirs (The Gabrieli Consort, Tenebrae, Polyphony, The Cambridge Scholars, Magnificat, Tonus Peregrinus, The Brabant Ensemble, The Eric Whitacre Singers, Heritage Voices, The Philharmonia Voices and London Voices). ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Between 2000-2010 he sang tenor with The Swingle Singers, travelling the world, recording 8 albums and performing in many of the world’s leading venues such as La Scala, Milan; The Concertgebouw, Amsterdam; Suntory Hall, Tokyo; the Esplanade Centre, Singapore; and the Parco della Musica, Rome. In 2010 he founded the London A Cappella Festival. As a tenor oratorio soloist in the UK Richard has given performances of Haydn’s Creation, Bach’s B Minor Mass, Handel’s Messiah, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Britten’s St. Nicholas, Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius, Stainer’s Crucifiction and performed the Evangelist part in Bach’s St. John Passion and St. Matthew Passion. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ In the world of contemporary music Richard has given over 50 performances of Berio’s "Sinfonia". He has also performed Berio’s a cappella work "a ronne" & 3 operas by Azio Corghi, and sang chorus and solo tenor parts in the world premiere of Stockhausen’s opera "Mittwoch aus Licht" with London Voices/Birmingham Opera Company under Graham Vick as part of the London 2012 festival. In recording and live projects he has worked with artists such as Jarvis Cocker, Scott Walker, Hans Zimmer, Sting, Florence & the Machine, Aphex Twin and Goldie. He has made over 50 album recordings and sung on numerous movie soundtracks (e.g. Harry Potter 5/6/7, The Hunger Games and James Bond Spectre). ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ He is frequently called upon as a judge of singing competitions (The Voice Festival UK and various UK schools,) and is a tutor/clinician for the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain and the UK Choir Festival. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Richard's writing is formed from a classical choral heritage but is very much shaped by the large variety of "crossover" vocal work he has taken part in during his professional singing career. His compositional work naturally focuses on the voice, how the music likes to be sung, and how the setting fits the occasion and the place. He writes predominantly with particular voices / choirs in mind rather than generically. He is currently collaborating with a living poet (Hywel John) on a new song-cycle written for counter-tenor and piano entitled "Under the Hawthorn Tree".