Leigh Melrose studied at St John's College, Cambridge, and at the Royal Academy of Music and in 2001 he represented Scotland in the Cardiff Singer of the World competition.
He was a company principal at the English National Opera where his roles have included Ned Keene Peter Grimes, Papageno The Magic Flute, Morales Carmen, The Count Marriage of Figaro, Rodolfo in Leoncavallo's La Boheme, Junius The Rape of Lucretia, Demetrius A Midsummer Night's Dream and Achille in La belle Hélène.
Opera engagements elsewhere include Demetrius A Midsummer Night's Dream for La Monnaie, Escamillo Carmen at the Royal Albert Hall and with CBSO/Sakari Oramo, Figaro Il Barbiere di Siviglia at New York City Opera, Silvio I Pagliacci for Welsh National Opera, Papageno The Magic Flute and Marcello La bohème for Opera Zuid, Sid, Albert Herring, Salzburger Landestheater (cond. Ivor Bolton), Lubano in The Philosopher's Stone (by Mozart and others) with Garsington Opera and the title role in Eugene Onegin, Longborough Festival Opera.
Leigh excels in the contemporary opera repertoire. He has sung Punch in Birtwistle's Punch and Judy in Porto and Rambo in the Channel Four film of John Adams' The Death of Klinghoffer. He created roles in the world-première of Jonathan Dove's TV Opera, Man on the Moon for Channel 4 and in the Kombat Opera series of short films commissioned and shown by BBC 2. He has recently premiered the role of Evan in James MacMillan's new opera The Sacrifice for Welsh National Opera to critical acclaim and performed a new commission with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. In June 2008 Leigh will sing Peter Maxwell Davies The Martyrdom of St Magnus at the composer's St Magnus Festival, Orkney and in Edinburgh and Inverness.
Concert performances include Walton's Belshazzar's Feast, Orff's Carmina Burana, Friar Lawrence in Berlioz' Romeo et Juliette, Rambo in The Death of Klinghoffer with BBC Symphony Orchestra and the composer, Les Troyens with LSO/Colin Davis (also recorded), Britten's Journey of the Magi at the Liceu Barcelona, De Falla's La Vida Breve at the BBC Proms, works by Mozart and Salieri with the City of London Sinfonia/Richard Hickox for the 2003 Mostly Mozart Festival at the Barbican, Britten Canticles with Roger Vignoles at the QEH, and Carmina Burana in Birmingham Symphony Hall and with the Carmina RTE National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland.
Future plans include Britten's Death in Venice, Liceu Barcelona with Sebastian Weigle conducting, Bartley in a new production of Vaughan Williams Riders to the Sea, English National Opera, Sid Albert Herring for the Opéra Comique and Opéra de Rouen, Ned Keane Peter Grimes in a new production for English National Opera, Papageno Die Zauberflöte for Seattle Opera, the title role in Billy Budd at the Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires and the Fauré Requiem with the Northern Sinfonia and Thierry Fischer.
Leigh Melrose is represented by Intermusica.
March 2008 / 450 words. Not to be altered without permission. Please destroy all previous biographical material.