Christopher
Diffey

(anglais)

Christopher Diffey was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1981. He began performing at the age of 9, where he was a member of the National Boys Choir, taking part in their tour of Europe in 1991, performing at St. Peter’s Basilica for Pope John Paul II, as well as Westminster Abbey. He has returned in recent years as a soloist to sing in the NBC’s Christmas concerts at the Melbourne Concert Hall, performing traditional Irish carols. He also performed as a soloist in their 40th Anniversary concert, held in 2004 at Robert Blackwood Hall. Christopher completed his bachelor of Music with Honors from Monash University in 2002, majoring in Vocal performance under the tutelage of Peter Mander.

In 2008, he completed his studies on the Royal Academy of Music Opera Course in London under the tutelage of Philip Doghan and Audrey Hyland, graduating with the prestigious DipRAM. Since arriving in London in September 2005, he has taken part in master classes with Barry Banks, John Mark Ainsley, Dennis O’Neil CBE, Julias Drake and John Williams and given two solo recitals at the Royal Academy of Music, performing song cycles by Beethoven and Schumann as well as a recital program of Scottish songs as part of the Fulham Young Musicians Series, including the rarely heard Britten cycle, ‘Who are these children?’. At the end of 2005 he was accepted onto the Josephine Baker Trust, and he received the Norman McCann Scholarship and Picker Trust Award for 2007, and the Rhoda Jones Roberts Scholarship for 2006. In 2010, Christopher received the English Touring Opera Young Artist Prize, generously sponsored by Christopher Ball. His operatic engagements have included Candide/Candide (Volkstheater Rostock), Odoardo/Ariodante (Dutch National Opera, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence), Erisso/Maometto Secondo (Volkstheater Rostock), Alfredo/La Traviata (Opera South, Opera UK, Garden Opera), Count Almaviva/The Barber of Seville (Opera Brava, Garden Opera, OperaUpClose), Soppy Hat/Swanhunter (Opera North), Laerte/Mignon (New Sussex Opera), Condulmiero/Maometto Secondo (Garsington Opera), Triplet 1/Clemency and Mercury/Orpheus in the Underworld (Scottish Opera), Pedrillo/Abduction from the Seraglio (Iford Opera), Oronte/Alcina, Borsa/Rigoletto & Fenton/Falstaff (Longborough Festival), Nanki Poo/The Mikado (Opera Della Luna), Prunier/La Rondine (Opera di Peroni), Cavaradossi/Tosca (Opera Novella), Rodolfo/La Bohème (Cambridge Graduate Orchestra & OperaUpClose), Don José/Carmen (Garden Opera, OperaUpClose), Barney/Circus Tricks & Talus/Icarus (Tête à Tête – World Premieres), Second Priest/The Magic Flute (Opera Holland Park) and Dardanus/Dardanus (RAO). Covered roles include Duca/Rigoletto (Longborough Festival Opera, Iford Opera), Triplet 1 & 2/Clemency (ROH2, World Premiere).

Concert experience includes Das Lied von der Erde with the Whitehall Orchestra and at the Fishguard Festival with Catherine Wyn-Rogers and Peter Donohoe, Bach/Christmas Oratorio (Manchester Camerata & Leeds Philharmonic), Bach/Mass in A Major (Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment) and a recital of Baroque arias at London’s Handel House Museum. Christopher has worked with conductors including Sir Colin Davis, David Parry, Gustav Leohardt and René Jacobs. As of September 2016, Christopher has taken up a position in the ensemble at the Nationaltheater Mannheim.

Future performances for the 2017/18 season include Don Ramiro and Tamino (*role debut).