Our guest today will need no introduction if you are a connoisseur of the Opera. A true scholar in the art and a future laureate of the craft, Iestyn possesses a gift within his voice that absolutely must be heard. Listen as we talk about how he came to be musically, his new EP, his upcoming stint as Peter Pan, and where he is headed as well as the past, present, and future.
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About Iestyn Morris:
An award winning counter-tenor who recently lit up the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, performing as Peter Pan with the Welsh National Opera, Iestyn Morris has now swapped singing on the stage for the studio to record this fantastic new EP.
Showcasing the full range of his vocal ability, the versatile singer has taken on very different C19th & C20th settings of English Jacobean poets – a marriage of sentiment and purpose, between poets and composers separated by four centuries. Opening with ‘Come unto these yellow sand’, ‘Full fathom five’ and ‘Where the bee sucks’ from Tippett’s ‘Songs For Ariel’ , Morris has also included Quilter’s ‘By a Fountainside’ and Hubert Parry’s ‘Lucasta on Going to Wars’. The EP will close with something of a ‘bonus track’, returning to Quilter with ‘To Althea from Prison’.
You can hear Iestyn’s incredible voice in action here:
This EP, due in November, is only the first step in a process which Iestyn Morris is hoping will see the release of a full album very soon. His ambition is for a full length LP featuring a wide range of English composers, showing that at its best, English song can stand up against exponents from any other song tradition, before potentially turning his attention to another album – this time celebrating classical Russian repertoire.
A former winner of the Tracey Chadwell Award for contemporary song and also winner of the Patricia Routledge National English Song Competition, Morris has performed at the top level from a young age. His reputation within the industry is such that he was specially invited to return to the latter for its centenary, as a member of the prestigious judging panel.
In concert, Iestyn has performed at some of the world’s most highly respected venues, in wide-ranging repertoire that has seen him working with small scale period instrument ensembles to full symphony orchestras. In the UK’s capital alone he has performed at Royal Festival Hall and Queen Elizabeth Hall, on top of regular appearances at Westminster Abbey and other major churches in and around the City of London.
And now, by transferring his stage craft to the studio, Iestyn Morris is ready for the release of a theatrical and dramatic EP to be proud of.
LINKS:
https://www.twitter.com/iestyncounter
https://www.facebook.com/Iestyn-Morris-1561738167419807/timeline/?ref=br_rs
http://iestynmorris.com/
