Paul Carey Jones is one of Wales' foremost emerging singing talents.
Paul was born in Cardiff and studied at Ysgol Glantaf, Queen's College Oxford, the Royal Academy of Music, and at the National Opera Studio, where he was the recipient of the Welsh National Opera Bryan Davies Award. During his studies he was awarded the National Eisteddfod of Wales' most prestigious award for young singers, the W. Towyn Roberts Scholarship.
Paul's operatic roles include Marcello (Scottish Opera on Tour, Opera Mint), Schaunard (Diva Opera), Eurymaque in Faure's Penelope and Martino in Rossini's L'Occasione Fa Il Ladro (Wexford Festival Opera), Rossini's Figaro (Opera East), Mozart's Figaro (Diva Opera, British Youth Opera - cover, Beaufort Opera, Opera Mint), Papageno (Opera By Definition), Osmin in Zaide (Aldeburgh Festival), Angelotti (Scottish Opera - cover), the Father in Hansel & Gretel (Scottish Opera on Tour - cover), Escamillo (Stowe Opera), Malatesta (Bel Canto Opera), The Forester (Surrey Opera), Sam in Trouble in Tahiti (Second Movement), Paisiello's Bartolo (Bampton Classical Opera, Buxton Festival), John Styx (British Youth Opera), Count Ceprano (Diva Opera), Ariodates (British Youth Opera - cover), and Aeneas (Youthful Promise Wales).
In contemporary opera Paul has created the roles of Freddie Jesson in Peter Wiegold's Brief Encounter, Paracelsus the Alchemist in Jonathan Owen Clark's Hidden States and Mohammed in Keith Burstein's Manifest Destiny, as well as performing the eleven roles for baritone in Stephen Oliver's A Man of Feeling.
Paul's oratorio repertoire comprises over thirty major works, including Mendelssohn's Elijah, Handel's Messiah, Haydn's Creation, Bach's Mass in B minor, Orff's Carmina Burana, and the Requiems by Mozart, Brahms, Faure, Durufle and Salieri. In 2004 he sang in the UK premiere of Galuppi's motet Confitebor Tibi Domine. He has performed in concert and recital across the UK, at venues including Cardiff's St David's Hall, The Queen Elizabeth Hall and Purcell Room on the South Bank, at the Edinburgh Festival and in 2002 at Buckingham Palace with the London Symphony Orchestra under Seiji Ozawa at Mstislav Rostropovich's 75th birthday concert. Recent concert work has included recitals at the Wexford Festival, the North Wales International Music Festival, the Ruthin Festival and at the Newport Centre. His performances in Europe have taken him to France, Switzerland, Germany, Poland, Gibraltar and the Channel Islands.
Paul was a member of the late Yehudi Menuhin's Live Music Now scheme, for whom he gave over 200 concerts in partnerships with the award-winning pianists Llyr Williams, Helen Collyer and Siobhain O'Higgins. His broadcast performances include The Little Prince for BBC television, BBC Radio 3's In Tune, Opera Night for RTE Lyric FM, Eisteddfod 2001 for BBC2, A Visit to the Eisteddfod and Raised Voices for HTV Wales, and Crwtyn Bach y Simne, Heno, Dechrau Canu Dechrau Canmol, Croma and Musicale for S4C.
Paul has also worked as a spoken-voice actor since the age of 9, appearing on television in dramas such as Austin for the BBC and on S4C's long-running soap opera Pobol y Cwm, alongside Hollywood actor Ioan Gruffudd, as well as on stage, most recently as the Narrator in The Soldier's Tale for the Ziemen Ensemble. He made his dramatic singing debut as Friedrich in The Sound of Music in a production that included West End star Caroline Sheen as his sister Brigitte.
Paul's debut album ENAID - Songs of the Soul is on sale worldwide now - visit the album's page on MySpace for more details, at: www.myspace.com/enaidsongsofthesoul
Full details of all his forthcoming appearances can be found at www.paulcareyjones.com.
Selected press comments:
"Paul Carey Jones' resonantly sung Eurymaque stood out" Sunday Times
"Terrific" Sunday Telegraph
"The star of the show" Opera
"Rock-solid" The Stage
"Paul Carey Jones puts in a stunning performance" Metro
"Swagger and voice to match" Opera Now
"Sang superbly and acted convincingly; must have a great future in store" The Observer
"A very promising young Welsh baritone" Sunday Times
"A Welsh baritone of striking vocal achievement" The Stage
"A beefy, wide-ranging instrument, and he has presence to spare - set to become a significant player on the operatic scene" Opera
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