Ashley Holland has established himself as one of the most sought after baritones for 19th century Italian repertory and contemporary opera on both sides of the Atlantic and has recently impressed audiences and critics alike in performances of Wagner and Strauss.
Career highlights include engagements at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden under Sir Colin Davis, at the Bastille Opera, Count Capriccio at the Edinburgh International Festival under Markus Stenz, Junius The Rape of Lucretia Lausanne Opera, Marcello La Bohème and Ford Falstaff in Dresden, the latter role which he has subsequently sung with the Halle Orchestra under Mark Elder, in Strasbourg with Carlo Rizzi and at English National Opera conducted by Mark Wigglesworth, La Vera Storia in Hamburg under Ingo Metzmacher, his role debut as Athanael Thaïs for Grange Park Opera and in 2005 his role and company debut as Amfortas Parsifal at the Grazer Oper under Philippe Jordan.
Ashley made his US debut singing Don Pedro Maria Padilla with Minnesota Opera and was immediately invited back for Orazio Orazi e Curiazi in 2006, in addition he has appeared at the Lyric Opera of Chicago singing Enrico Lucia di Lammermoor and as Sharpless for Cincinnati Opera.
Ashley's prowess in the contemporary field was fully realised in the 06-07 season when he created the title role in the world premiere of Detlev Glanert’s Caligula for Oper Frankfurt and Oper Köln to critical acclaim, a role that he will revive in Frankfurt in 2009. Other recent contemporary performances have included Choregus Punch & Judy in English National Opera's hit new production this season and concert performances of Mathias Pintscher’s L’espace dernier at the Philharmonie in Cologne.
Earlier in his career Ashley was a principal baritone at English National Opera, where his roles included Ford, Mr Redburn Billy Budd, Germont La Traviata, Don Carlo Ernani, Belcore L’Elisir d’Amore, Zurga Pearl Fishers, Cecil Maria Stuarda, Lescaut Manon and Ottakar Der Freischutz.
In concert Ashley has performed in major tours of Mahler’s 8th Symphony with the SWF Sinfonie Orchester and the Orchestre National de Lille; as well as in concerts with orchestras such as the Leipzig Gewandhaus (Messiah), the Hallé Orchestra (Messiah, Carmina Burana), Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment under Sir Mark Elder (Linda di Chamounix), London Symphony Orchestra under Kent Nagano (Candide), the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Sir Andrew Davis (Weill’s Der Protagonist and The Royal Palace), BBC Philharmonic Orchestra (Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen), Hong Kong Philharmonic (Five Mystical Songs), the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and at the BBC Proms, the Barbican and the Royal Albert Hall.
Recently Ashley has sung in Glass’s Satyagraha at ENO and Mahler 8 with RTÉ Symphony Orchestra, Dublin. His future engagements include Caligula and Francesco I Masnadieri for Opera Frankfurt, a return to Graz for his first Wolfram Tannhäuser, Count Capriccio for Oper Köln and Mozart Requiem with the Orquesta Sinfónica y Coro at the Teatro Monumental in Madrid.
Ashley Holland is represented by Intermusica.
August 2008 / 486 words Not to be altered without permission. Please destroy all previous biographical material.