After graduating in Archaeology and Anthropology from St John’s College, Cambridge, Iestyn Davies studied at the Royal Academy of Music, London.
An esteemed Handelian, he has astounded audiences globally with his vocal agility in roles such as Orlando, Rinaldo, Ottone Agrippina and David Saul. His intelligent and considered interpretations have led to fruitful collaborations with Thomas Adés, George Benjamin and Nico Muhly.
Iestyn received an Olivier Award nomination for singing the role of Farinelli in Farinelli and the King opposite Mark Ryalnce, a Globe Theatre production that had successful runs on the West End and Broadway.
On the opera stage, he has appeared at the Metropolitan Opera, New York; the Lyric Opera of Chicago; Teatro alla Scala Milan; the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; English National Opera; Glyndebourne Festival Opera; Welsh National Opera; Teatro Real Madrid; Salzburg Festival and in Munich, Vienna and Zurich. In the 2021/2022 season Iestyn sings Arsace Partenope at Teatro Real Madrid, Ottone Agrippina at Staatsoper Hamburg and the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich and Bertarido Rodelinda at the Metropolitan Opera, New York.
Concert engagements have included performances at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan with Dudamel, the Concertgebouw and Tonhalle with Koopman and at the Barbican, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Lincoln Centre and at the BBC Proms in the Royal Albert Hall with orchestras that include the New York Philharmonic, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic, English Concert, Britten Sinfonia, Concerto Köln, Concerto Copenhagen, Ensemble Matheus, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Academy of Ancient Music and Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Highlights on the concert platform this season include Handel’s Rodelinda at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, Moscow, a French tour of Handel Duets with Ensemble Jupiter and Bach’s Mass in B Minor and Handel’s Radamisto with the Philharmonia Baroque in San Francisco, Stanford and Berkley.
A committed recitalist, his repertoire ranges from Dowland to Clapton and he has performed at Carnegie Hall, New York and enjoys a successful relationship with the Wigmore Hall and King’s Place in London where he has curated residencies. He has won a Grammy Award, 3 Gramophone Awards for recital recordings, the Royal Philharmonic Society Young Artist of the Year, and the 2013 Critics’ Circle Awards for Exceptional Young Talent (Singer). In 2017 he was awarded an MBE by the Queen for his services to music
