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About Christopher Goldsack

The Singer:

A physics graduate of Cambridge University, Christopher Goldsack left a promising teaching career to train as a singer. He studied voice with Rudolf Piernay at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and then at the Lyon Opera Studio.  Awards have included first prize at the Toulouse International Singing Competition and the Grand Prix Paul Derennes at the Concours de Paris, and prizes for French song on several occasions at the Concours Triptyque in Paris. Until health interrupted his performing, he pursued a successful career as a concert and opera singer.

He has very extensive experience as a performer of opera. In Lyon, speaking fluent French, he was readily incorporated into several of Lyon Opéra's productions, including Dialogues des Camelites, Salome in which he recorded the Slave for Virgin Classics, and Ravel's L'Enfant et les Sortilèges singing the Grandfather Clock and Cat in extensive tours of France, South America, Germany and Belgium in a production which was then filmed and won the Fipa d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. He covered the role of Pelléas for English National Opera, a role he also covered for the Glyndebourne Festival. Other roles have included Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus and Dr. Malatesta in Don Pasquale for Welsh National Opera and Masino in Haydn's La vera costanza for Garsington Opera.

He has sung Aeneas in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, Escamillo in Carmen for Singapore Lyric Theatre, L'Enfant et les Sortilèges for the French National Theatre in Tarbes and Bordeaux, Marcello in La Bohème for Crystal Clear Opera and Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia for Opera Interludes.  For Opera Brava he has sung the Count in The Marriage of Figaro in the Queen Elizabeth Hall and Marcello and for European Chamber Opera his roles have included Dandini in La Cenerentola and Dr. Malatesta in the Holland Park Festival, Dr. Falke in Die Fledermaus and also Marcello.  He has also sung Dandini for Dublin Grand Opera.  He has covered principal roles at Scottish Opera and for Opera North he sang the role of Henri in Chabrier's The Relucant King, and for the Royal Opera House he covered in Ghoer's Arianna and Ned Keene in Peter Grimes. He has also participated in many world premieres including Missa e combattimento by Monteverdi/Judith Weir in Antwerp, a work in which he made his debut with the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels.

Christopher has an extensive oratorio repertoire including Bach's St John Passion, B minor mass and cantata Ich habe genug, Beethoven's 9th Symphony, Duruflé's Requiem, Rossini's Petite messe Solennelle, Schubert's Mass in A flat, Handel's Messiah, Orff's Carmina Burana, Duruflé's Requiem, Fauré's Requiem and Vaughan William's Sea Symphony.

A committed and experienced recital singer, Christopher has a special affinity for French song.  In Lyon he appeared with the orchestra of the Opéra singing Poulenc's cantata Le bal masqué.  Recital venues have included Verona, Lyon, Paris, Perpignan, and in the UK, Cambridge, Newcastle and Warwick.  He has performed widely with mezzo-soprano Janet Shell, with whom he toured major venues throughout South America.  In London they sang at Saint Martin in the Fields and the Speaker's Hall in the Houses of Parliament.  They were the first singers to sing live on Classic FM. He has also recorded a recital of French songs for BBC Radio 3 and another of South American songs.

The Teacher:

Christopher has enormous experience and a growing reputation as a singing teacher, working in various secondary schools and in his own private practice. Combining his past as a classroom teacher, scientist and linguist gives him a unique vision in his teaching. He enjoys researching the latest teaching methods and has a broad understanding of all styles of vocal music, classical and contemporary. He has given numerous lectures for the Association of Teachers of Singing. He was acting Head of Voice at the London College of Music and has given many classes on French song at the Guildhall School of Music, Royal College of Music and the Royal Academy of Music. He has also been on the jury for the several international singing competitions.

The Choral Director:

Christopher is passionate in his vision for his work with young singers. He founded the Promenade Youth and Junior Choirs in 2009 to provide top quality choral training to young singers based in and around Elmbridge. The choirs have a growing reputation for exceptional work in repertoire that ranges from choral arrangements of contemporary popular music to full scale oratorios such as Handel’s Messiah and Fauré’s Requiem. He also runs an adult Project Choir, seeking to attain an exceptionally high standard for local choral singers and musicians. His ethos as a choral director is to enjoy music to the full without compromising the search for as high a standard as possible in both tone quality and musical interpretation. His experience as a singing teacher is at the forefront of his work with choirs. However, above all, he aims to bring the joy of the wealth of all styles of music to anybody who wants to join him. Music should be fun, whether it is Mozart, Gershwin or McCartney, and choirs should offer the opportunity for people of all walks of life to rejoice in this wealth.

Sample recordings

These videos can be watched on a larger screen on the YouTube site.

O ma belle rebelle by Gounod
piano - Claire Toomer.

La grotte by Debussy
piano - John Flinders

L'adieu en barque by Andre Caplet
piano - Claire Toomer

Pueblito, mi pueblo by Guastavino
mezzo-soprano - Janet Shell
piano - John Flinders

Dunque io son from Rossini's The Barber of Seville
mezzo-soprano - Janet Shell
piano - John Flinders

Critical acclaim

Toulouse International Singing Competition
He seduced the audience with an intentionally intimate programme which he interpreted with a rare subtlety and musicianship. Lyon Figaro

Verona recital
The English baritone Christopher Goldsack showed himself to be a remarkable interpreter... He is blessed with great flexibility, a studied diction, an uninhibited multilingual pronunciation and stylistic insight. L'Arena di Verona

Paris International Singing Competition
Christopher Goldsack has a great musicality. Singing Debussy and Poulenc, Roussel and Milhaud, Ravel and Caplet, he demonstrated rare professionalism and quite exceptional qualities in performance. Opéra International

Montevideo recital, Uruguay
The baritone Christopher Goldsack... has an absolutely delightful spinning tone and sings with a refined technique and an unparalleled musicianship, treating both music and words with equal care. El Païs

Recital with Janet Shell, Perpignan, France
Beautiful singing... in a moving "Lultima canzone" by Tosti or a fabulous "Fin ch'han dal vino" from Mozart's Don Giovanni.  Enormous variety!  Moments of delicious frisson, full clear sound, perfect intonation, warmth of tone... and humour building a close rapport with the packed and captivated audience. L'Indépendant

Carmen, Singapore
The most glamorous tones in this production belonged to Christopher Goldsack's Escamillo.  His youthful, dashing, handsome and high baritone was a breath of fresh air to those more used to seeing a much older bass-baritone singer in the role. The Straits Times

The Voice of Ariadne, Guildhall
Christopher Goldsack's saturnine looks and worried expression were just right for Count Marco; his well-produced baritone was also ideal for the role. Daily Telegraph

Don Pasquale, Welsh National Opera
Christopher Goldsack's slim Malatesta was exactly the kind of dangerous resourceful thinker to have imagined the conspiracy. Opera Magazine