Belfast-born bass-baritone Timothy Murphy read Music at Bristol University, completed his Masters in Vocal Performance at the Royal Academy of Music and has received a full scholarship to study for two further years on the opera course with Mark Wildman and Audrey Hyland. He is a Royal Academy of Music/Kohn Foundation Bach Scholar and was the winner of the 2014 Michael Head Prize for English Song.
Before focusing on his studies as a solo singer, Timothy enjoyed a successful choral career, much of which has been recorded - such as the fourth disc in The Sixteen’s acclaimed series of Polish music due for release in late 2016, Choirs of Angels with the choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford shortlisted for a 2013 Gramophone Award), a disc of evening canticles on Hyperion with St. Paul’s Cathedral, Stile Antico’s The Phoenix Rising (winner of the Diapason d’Or’ and CHOC du Classica), Platinum Consort’s debut album In the Dark (Classic FM’s Album of the Weekend), Missa Ad coenam Agni & Eastertide motets with The Brabant Ensemble, and Water Night, the US and UK chart-topping album by the Eric Whitacre Singers. Timothy has also sung with some of the premier ensembles in the UK including The Cardinall’s Musick, Tenebrae, London Voices and Britten Sinfonia Voices.
Operatic highlights to date include creating the role of Bass 3 in the world premiere of Stockhausen’s Mittwoch aus Licht with Birmingham Opera Company and again later at the BBC Proms, and joining the 2015 Glyndebourne Chorus for their productions of Donizetti’s Poliuto and Bizet’s Carmen. Having performed the role of Bartolo in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro with Royal Academy Opera in October 2015, he has just finished performing the part of Galava (The Mayor) in May Night by Rimsky- Korsakov with RAO. He looks forward to his next role in May as Seneca in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea. Timothy also performs in oratorios around the UK and Europe, recently making his Norwegian debut in a concert of Stainer and Bach. In June he will be singing the bass solos in ten staged performances of Handel’s Messiah with Opéra National de Bordeaux.
He has received generous support from the Carr-Gregory Scholarship, Karaviotis Scholarship, William Gibbs Trust and the Josephine Baker Trust. Timothy’s passion for music is accompanied by a great enthusiasm for tennis and bookbinding.
