Canadian classical bass-baritone vocalist, born 30 January 1960 in Montreal.
He began singing as a chorister in Ottawa, Canada, and, encouraged by his uncle and former organist / Director of Music at Westminster Abbey, Sir William McKie, he auditioned for David Willcocks in 1978 and arrived in England the next year to complete his musical studies at the Royal College of Music, King’s College, Cambridge, and the National Opera Studio. He made his operatic debut in 1984.
He was awarded the 2012 Grammy for Best Opera Recording (John Adams’s Dr Atomic with the Metropolitan Opera) and won an unprecedented three Classic FM Gramophone Awards for Best Solo Vocal Recording (Britten’s Songs & Proverbs Of William Blake in 2011, Schumann’s Dichterliebe & Other Heine Settings in 2009 and Songs by Samuel Barber in 2008).