Alex Banfield

Banfield grew up in Morpeth, Northumberland, and performed in local choral^[1] and operatic^[2] productions in Northern England in his early twenties, while obtaining a degree in Sociology from Leeds University. He then trained at the Royal Northern College of Music^[3] in Manchester, receiving a Master of Music (Voice). While a student in Manchester, he was a lay clerk at Manchester Cathedral.^[4] In 2013, he was a scholar with the Samling Institute (Samling Academy Opera), and made his debut with the title role in Britten's Albert Herring.^[5] He returned to Samling for their 2015 production of Ravel's L'enfant et les sortilèges to sing the Teacup and the Frog.^[6]

He performed full time with Opera North^[7] in Leeds until August 2020, when he joined the ensemble at Theatre Basel,^[8] Switzerland as a young artist on their OperAvenir 20/21 program. For Opera North he sang Sam Kaplan in Street Scene,^[9][10] Nikolio in Greek Passion by Martinů^[11][12] (directed by Christopher Alden), Jonathan Dale in the UK premiere of the Pulitzer Prize-winning opera Silent Night by Kevin Puts (directed by Tim Albery),^[13][14][15] St. Brioche in The Merry Widow,^[16] Hrazda in Osud (Janáček), and Nemorino in L'elisir d'amore for their Whistle Stop tour.^[17] He performed regularly in Manchester, including with the Manchester Opera Ensemble,^[18] Turton Consort,^[19] Chetham Chamber Orchestra^[20] and Manchester Baroque.^[21] In 2024, for Les Talens Lyriques he performed in a recording for the label Château de Versailles Spectacles in a little known piece, L'Olimpiade by Cimarosa,^[22] which culminated in a performance at the Royal Opera of Versailles.^[23] He has also performed with the Vienna Tonkünstler Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Northern Sinfonia,^[1] and was regular soloist for the Liverpool Bach Collective.