Mark Padmore, tenor
Mitsuko Uchida, piano

Mark Padmore was born in London and studied at King’s College, Cambridge. He has established an international career in opera, concert and recital. His appearances in Bach Passions have gained particular notice, especially his renowned performances as Evangelist in the St. Matthew and St John Passions with the Berlin Philharmonic and Simon Rattle, staged by Peter Sellars.

A highlight of Mark's 2021-22 season was a residency at Wigmore Hall where he celebrated his relationship with pianists Till Fellner, Imogen Cooper, Mitsuko Uchida and Paul Lewis. He returned to the Wigmore Hall in the 2022-23 season to sing Vaughan Williams and Fauré with the Elias Quartet and James Baillieu, after performing the program in Spain.

In addition to recitals with Kristian Bezuidenhout in Helsinki, Till Fellner in Zaragoza and Julius Drake in Amsterdam, Mark was artist in residence at the Oxford Lieder Festival and gave a recital tour of Japan with Mitsuko Uchida. He also appeared on stage in the title role of a new production of Monteverdi's Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria conducted by Fabio Biondi, sang the world première of Mark-Anthony Turnage’s song cycle A constant obsession with the Nash Ensemble, and gave concerts with Sinfonieorchester Basel and Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen.

Mark’s most recent appearance at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden was a new production of Britten’s Death in Venice, where his performance was described as a “tour de force” and “exquisite of voice, [presenting] Aschenbach’s physical and spiritual breakdown with extraordinary detail and insight”. Other opera roles have included the leading roles in Harrison Birtwistle's The Corridor and The Cure at the Aldeburgh Festival; Captain Vere in Britten's Billy Budd and Evangelist in a staging of St. Matthew Passion both for the Glyndebourne Festival and the world première of Tansy Davies’ Cave with the London Sinfonietta.

In concert Mark performs with the world’s leading orchestras. He was Artist in Residence for the 2017-18 season with the Berlin Philharmonic and held a similar position with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in 2016-17. His work with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment has involved projects exploring both Bach St. John and St. Matthew Passion and has attracted worldwide acclaim.

His extensive discography includes Beethoven Missa Solemnis and Haydn Die Schöpfung with Bernard Haitink and Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra on BR Klassik and Lieder by Beethoven, Haydn, and Mozart with Kristian Bezuidenhout for Harmonia Mundi. Other Harmonia Mundi recordings include Schubert cycles with Paul Lewis (Winterreise won the 2010 Gramophone magazine Vocal Award); Schumann Dichterliebe with Kristian Bezuidenhout (2011 Edison Klassiek Award) and Britten Serenade, Nocturne and Finzi Dies Natalis with the Britten Sinfonia (ECHO/Klassik 2013 award).

Mark was Cornwall Artistic Director of the St. Endellion Summer Music Festival in from 2012-2022. He was voted 2016 Vocalist of the Year by Musical America and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Kent University in 2014. He was appointed CBE in the 2019 Queens’ Birthday Honours List.

One of the most revered artists of our time, Mitsuko Uchida is known as a peerless interpreter of the works of Mozart, Schubert, Schumann and Beethoven, as well for being a devotee of the piano music of Alban Berg, Arnold Schoenberg, Anton Webern, and György Kurtág.

She has enjoyed close relationships over many years with the world’s most renowned orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony, London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, and – in the US – the Chicago Symphony and The Cleveland Orchestra, with whom she recently celebrated her 100th performance at Severance Hall.  Conductors with whom she has worked closely have included Bernard Haitink, Sir Simon Rattle, Riccardo Muti, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Vladimir Jurowski, Andris Nelsons, Gustavo Dudamel, and Mariss Jansons.

Since 2016, Mitsuko Uchida has been an Artistic Partner of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, with whom she is currently engaged on a multi-season touring project in Europe, Japan and North America.  She also appears regularly in recital in Vienna, Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam, London, New York and Tokyo, and is a frequent guest at the Salzburg Mozartwoche and Salzburg Festival.

Mitsuko Uchida records exclusively for Decca, and her multi-award-winning discography includes the complete Mozart and Schubert piano sonatas.  She is the recipient of two Grammy® Awards – for Mozart Concertos with The Cleveland Orchestra, and for an album of lieder with Dorothea Röschmann – and her recording of the Schoenberg Piano Concerto with Pierre Boulez and the Cleveland Orchestra won the Gramophone Award for Best Concerto.

A founding member of the Borletti-Buitoni Trust and Co-Artistic Director (with Jonathan Biss) of the Marlboro Music Festival, Mitsuko Uchida is a recipient of the Golden Mozart Medal from the Salzburg Mozarteum, and the Praemium Imperiale from the Japan Art Association. She has also been awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Philharmonic Society and the Wigmore Hall Medal, and holds Honorary Degrees from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. In 2009 she was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.