B I O G R A P H Y
English baritone Ashley Holland studied at the Royal Northern College of Music. He won the 'I Cestelli' Competizione dell'Opera at the Staatsoper in Hamburg in1988 and represented England in the 1995 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition. In 2013 he was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Opera Recording category for Lulu from the Liceu in Barcelona (Deutsche Grammophon).
He was for some years a principal baritone at the English National Opera, during which time he performed roles including Giorgio Germont (La Traviata), Ford (Falstaff), Don Carlo (Ernani), Zurga (Pearl Fishers), Escamillo (Carmen), Prus (Makropoulos Case), Mr Redburn (Billy Budd), Mr Kallenbach (Satyagraha), Marcello (La Boheme) and Sharpless (Madama Butterfly). International engagements include Masetto (Don Giovanni), Panthée (Les Troyens) and Geisterbote (Die Frau ohne Schatten) for The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Ford (Falstaff), Panthée and Marcello for Semperoper Dresden, Enrico Ashton (Lucia di Lammermoor) for Lyric Opera of Chicago, Dr Schön (Lulu) and Fieramosca (Benvenuto Cellini) for the Liceu Barcelona, the title role in the World Premiere of Glanert's Caligula, title role in Sallinen's Kullervo, Uin-Sci (L'Oracolo) and Jack Rance (La Fanciulla del West) in Frankfurt, Bosun (Billy Budd) for Opera de Paris at the Bastille, Paolo Albiani (Simon Boccanegra) in Lyon, Dr Schön, Captain Hook (Peter Pan) and Peter (Hansel and Gretel) for Welsh National Opera, Captain Hook and Four Villains (Les Contes d'Hoffmann) at the Komische Oper, Berlin, Captain Hook in Stuttgart, Amfortas (Parsifal), Wolfram (Tannhäuser), Dr Schön and Escamillo for Oper Graz, the title role in Don Giovanni for Calgary Opera, Sharpless for Cincinnati Opera, Germont and Sharpless for Opera Pacific, Orazio (Orazi e Curiazi) and Don Pedro (Maria Padilla) for Minnesota Opera, Mr Flint (Billy Budd) in Düsseldorf, Caligula and Graf (Capriccio) in Cologne and Wolfram for the Greek National Opera.
Ashley has worked with conductors including Colin Davis, Andrew Davis, Mark Elder, Kent Nagano, Phillippe Jordan, Herbert Blomstedt, Semyon Bychkov, Jesus Lopez Cobos, Kazushi Ono, Donald Runnicles and Antonio Pappano, and with directors including Christopher Alden, Graham Vick, David Alden, Jonathan Miller, Jude Kelly, Keith Warner, Francesca Zambello, Johannes Erath, David Pountney, Lydia Steier, Terry Gilliam and David McVicar.
On the concert platform, Ashley has an extensive repertoire as a soloist with orchestras including the BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony, BBC Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, Hallé, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, RTVE Orchestra Madrid and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and has performed at many major concert venues, including the Royal Albert Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Barbican, Bridgewater Hall, Symphony Hall Birmingham, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Musikverein Vienna, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Philharmonie Cologne and Gewandhaus Leipzig.. He has been a guest soloist at the Edinburgh International Festival, Hong Kong Festival, and the BBC Proms.
Ashley's discography includes Dr Schön (Lulu) for Deutsche Grammophon (DVD), Ford (Falstaff), Belcore (The Elixir of Love) and Marquis de la Force (Dialogues of the Carmelites), Caligula (Caligula), Jack Rance (La Fanciulla del West) and Uin-Sci (L'Oracolo) for Oehms Classics and First Mate (Billy Budd) for Erato. Ashley has given masterclasses for young performers at English National Opera and at the Hong Kong Conservatoire.
Ashley is currently managing a portfolio career consisting of voiceover, freelance stage management and concert singing performances.