Nicky Spence, Julius Drake, Piatti Quartet
Biography Nicky Spence, Julius Drake, Piatti Quartet
Nicky Spence
Hailed by The Daily Telegraph as ‘a voice of real distinction’, Nicky Spence’s unique skills as a singing actor and the rare honesty of his musicianship have earned him a place at the top of the classical music profession. BBC Music Magazine named him ‘Personality of the Year’ in 2022; he was made an OBE in the 2023 King’s Birthday Honours, and in 2024 was the winner of the RPS Singer Award. Nicky took up the position of President of the Independent Society of Musicians for the 2024/25 season.
Recent stage highlights include roles as Siegmund in Wagner’s Die Walküre for the English National Opera, Loge in Das Rheingold at La Monnaie and Erik in Der fliegende Holländer for Grange Park Opera, Albert Gregor in Janáček’s Věc Makropulos for the Deutsche Staatsoper, Edmundo de Nobile in Adès’s The Exterminating Angel for the Opéra national de Paris, and the title role in The Excursions of Mr Brouček to the Moon and to the 15th Century at the Brno Janáček Festival.
Nicky gives recitals internationally, including the recent curation of a residency at Wigmore Hall, and records prolifically. His discography includes Strauss lieder with Roger Vignoles (Hyperion), Brahms’s Liebeslieder-Walzer with Joseph Middleton and Dylan Perez (Resonus Classics), the title role in Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito (Alpha), Handel’s Brockes-Passion with the Academy of Ancient Music and Richard Egarr (AAM Records), and works by Britten, Jonathan Dove, Pavel Haas, Alun Hoddinott, Buxton Orr, Schumann, Wagner, Wolf, Mark-Anthony Turnage and Vaughan Williams.
In 2020, he won the BBC Music Magazine Vocal Award and the Gramophone Solo Vocal Award for his critically acclaimed recording of Janáček’s The diary of one who disappeared, and in 2024 he was awarded the Leoš Janáček Memorial Medal at the Janáček Brno Festival for his contribution to the performance and promotion of the composer’s works on the international opera and concert stages.
Julius Drake
The pianist Julius Drake lives in London and enjoys an international reputation as one of the finest instrumentalists in his field, collaborating with many of the world’s leading artists, both in recital and on disc. His passionate interest in song has led to invitations to devise song series for Wigmore Hall (London), the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), 92nd St Y (New York) and the Pierre Boulez Saal (Berlin).
Julius’s many recordings include a widely acclaimed series with Gerald Finley for Hyperion Records, of which the Barber Songs, Schumann Dichterliebe & other Heine settings and Britten Songs & Proverbs won the 2007, 2009 and 2011 Gramophone Awards respectively. Other recordings include celebrated albums with Ian Bostridge, Alice Coote, Joyce DiDonato, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Matthew Polenzani, Anna Prohaska and Brindley Sherratt. Julius’s recording of Janáček’s The diary of one who disappeared for Hyperion, with tenor Nicky Spence and mezzo-soprano Václava Housková, won both a Gramophone Award and a BBC Music Magazine Award in 2020.
Concert highlights include recitals at La Scala (Milan) and the Munich Festival with Ludovic Tézier; visits to the Pierre Boulez Saal for the series ‘Lied und Lyrik’; piano-duet recitals with Elisabeth Leonskaja, including at the Schubertiade Festival in Austria; frequent performances at the Wigmore Hall, including its 2024–25 season opening concert to commemorate Fauré’s anniversary; and recitals in the USA and Europe with Fleur Barron, Ian Bostridge, Gerald Finley, Mercedes Gancedo, Christoph Prégardien, Julia Kleiter, Günther Groissböck and Roderick Williams.
