Richard Strivens
Richard Strivens (bass-baritone), originally from Kent, grew up in Belgium and graduated from Oxford University with a degree in Chemistry. He studied singing at the National Opera Studio, the Royal Northern College of Music and EurOperaStudio, Milan.
He has sung Nick Shadow (The Rake’s Progress) for English Touring Opera, Stage Technician (The Makropulos Case) for Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Colline (La bohème) for Scottish Opera on Tour, Masetto (Don Giovanni) at Cologne Opera, and Tergisto (Messalina) at the Batignano Festival in Italy.
Richard has previously sung Zoroastro (Orlando) and Ariodate (Serse) for the Cambridge Handel Opera Group. Other operatic roles include Don Giovanni and Figaro for Ryedale Festival Opera, the Count for Pimlico Opera, and Simone (La finta semplice) for the Classical Opera Company. He has appeared twice on Channel 4 as Giovanni: in a masterclass with Sir Thomas Allen and in Opera Anywhere’s modern translation of the opera.
More modern roles include Boatman/Lightning in Julian Philips’s children’s opera Dolffin for Welsh National Opera, Håkon in Maxwell Davies’s The Martyrdom of St Magnus for The Opera Group, and Richard created the role of Abbot Samson in Judith Bingham’s The Ivory Tree.
Concert performances include Bach Ich habe genug with Nicholas Daniel, and St Matthew Passion and the Christmas Oratorio, both with Nicholas Cleobury and the Britten Sinfonia. With the Joyful Company of Singers he has recorded Strauss Deutsche Mottete and Messiah. He has sung Verdi’s Requiem at the Bridgewater Hall with the combined North West Choral Societies, Pulcinella with the Birmingham Royal Ballet conducted by Barry Wordsworth, The Apostles at Eton College with Ralph Allwood, The Kingdom at St David’s Cathedral, The Dream of Gerontius at The Sage Gateshead, and Elijah with Stephen Williams and the St George’s Singers. There is more information on www.richardstrivens.com.