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Biography: Ian Bostridge
The English tenor, Ian Bostridge (b. 1964), studied history and philosophy at both Cambridge and Oxford, where he received his doctorate in 1990. He was a post-doctoral fellow at Corpus Christi, Oxford, before embarking on a career as a singer, having won the 1991 National Federation of Music Societies/Esso Award and support from the Young Concert Artists Trust.
Ian Bostridge made his Wigmore Hall (London) debut in 1993; his Purcell Room debut (an acclaimed Winterreise) and his Aldeburgh Festival debut in 1994. In 1995, he gave his first solo recital in Wigmore Hall (winning the Royal Philharmonic Society's Debut Award). He continues to be much in demand as an interpreter of German lieder. He has recorded a series of award-winning recordings -15 Grammy nominations! - including a recording of Schubert’s Die schöne Müllerin which won the Gramophone Solo Vocal Award for 1996. He has also made a film of Schubert's Winterreise directed by David Alden. His concert repertory ranges from Purcell to Igor Stravinsky.
Ian Bostridge’s operatic roles have included Lysander in A Midsummer Night's Dream with the Australian Opera at the Edinburgh Festival, Tamino in The Magic Flute with the English National Opera, Quint in Deborah Warner's production of The Turn of the Screw under Sir Colin Davis for the Royal Opera, Vasek in The Bartered Bride under Bernard Haitink for the Royal Opera and Nerone in L'Incoronazione di Poppea at the Münich Festival.
Despite his great success as a singer, Ian Bostridge still finds time to engage in scholarly pursuits. In 1997, he published a book entitled Witchcraft and its Transformations, 1650-1750. In 2015, he published an award-winning book, Schubert's Winter Journey: Anatomy of an Obsession. He has written about music for The Times Literary Supplement, Opernwelt, BBC Music Magazine, Opera Now and The Independent.
In 1992, Bostridge and the writer and publisher Lucasta Miller married. They have a son and a daughter.
Biography: Xuefei Yang
Xuefei Yang is acclaimed as one of the world’s finest classical guitarists. Hailed as a musical pioneer - her fascinating journey began after the Cultural Revolution, a period where Western musical instruments & music were banned, Xuefei was the first-ever guitarist in China to enter a music school and became the first internationally recognized Chinese guitarist on the world stage. Her first public appearance at the age ten received such acclaim that the Spanish Ambassador in China presented her with a concert guitar. Her debut in Madrid at the age of 14 was attended by the composer Joaquín Rodrigo, and when John Williams heard her play, he gave two of his own instruments to Beijing’s Central Conservatoire especially for her and other advanced students.
A Beijing native, “Fei” is a graduate of Beijing’s Central Conservatoire of Music and went on to become the first Chinese musician to receive a full scholarship for postgraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London. She received the Principal’s Prize on completion of her postgraduate study there.
Gramophone magazine praised Xuefei as one of the leading innovators of her generation for continuing to build the guitar repertoire. She is committed to commissioning new works and making her own arrangements, with a particular interest in adding Chinese music and chamber music, many of which have appeared on her recordings. Xuefei has received new works from composers such as Chen Yi, Stephen Goss, Timothy Salter, and Carlo Domeniconi. This season sees her giving at least three world premiere performances.
Xuefei has made many albums including several acclaimed recordings for EMI Classics. Her first recording received a gold disc & her second was selected as ‘Editor’s Choice’ in Gramophone magazine. She released two albums in 2016; her latest solo album “Colours of Brazil,” (Decca Classics) and “Songs from our Ancestors” (Globe Music) which continues her successful collaboration with Ian Bostridge in a recording made at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.
The UK classical music magazine, Classic FM, named Xuefei as one of the 100 top classical musicians of our time. In recognition of her distinguished career, Xuefei was awarded ‘Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Music’ in June 2012, one of only 300 living artists so honored.
Xuefei is now based in the UK.