Graeme Broadbent

Biography

Graeme Broadbent was born in Halifax and studied at the Royal College of Music with Lyndon Van der Pump, where he was awarded teaching, opera, postgraduate and performing diplomas. He was invited by Yevgeny Nesterenko to study with him in Moscow and in 1990 he entered the Tchaikovsky Conservatoire, with scholarships from the British Council and the Soviet Government. In 1991 he was awarded the Tchaikovsky Conservatoire Postgraduate Diploma in solo singing.

Graeme Broadbent has sung over 120 operatic roles in his career to date. His 41 roles for the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, include Angelotti (Tosca) with Luciano Pavarotti in his final performances there, King Marke (Tristan und Isolde), King of Egypt (Aida), Timur (Turandot), Colline (La Bohème), Dr Grenvil (La Traviata); also Ariadenus (Ormindo) and Satyr & Pluto (Orpheus), with the Royal Opera at the Globe's Sam Wanamaker Playhouse. He made his debut as the Commendatore (Don Giovanni) at the Glyndebourne Festival and has also sung Sarastro (Die Zauberflöte), Foltz (Die Meistersinger) and Dr Grenvil (La Traviata) there. Other roles include Ramfis (Aida), Ashby (La fanciulla del west), Gremin (Eugene Onegin) and Sparafucile (Rigoletto) for Opera Holland Park; Basilio (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Father Trulove (The Rake's Progress) and Sergeant of police (Pirates of Penzance) for Scottish Opera. He has also sung many times for ENO and Opera North.

International operatic appearances include Claggart (Billy Budd) in Genoa and St Petersburg and Swallow (Peter Grimes) in Rome and Beijing. He has also sung at the New York Metropolitan, in Los Angeles, New Zealand, Paris, Vienna, Monte Carlo, Stuttgart, Bremen, Baden-Baden and at the Spoleto Festival.

Graeme Broadbent has performed in recital and oratorio throughout the UK and abroad, appearing at all the major London concert halls and at the Proms, in repertoire ranging from Monteverdi to Schönberg.

Eight of Graeme Broadbent's students (five from the RCM) have secured contracts for principal roles at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; three progressing directly from the RCM onto the Jette Parker young artists' programme. His students have also sung at the Metropolitan Opera, New York; La Scala, Milan; Le Châtelet, Paris and the Mariinsky theatre, St Petersburg.