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Rufus Müller, tenor

The English-German tenor, Rufus Müller, was acclaimed by The New York Times following a performance in Carnegie Hall as "...easily the best tenor I have heard in a live Messiah." He is a leading Evangelist in Bach's Passions and his unique dramatic interpretation of this rôle has confirmed his status as one of the world's most sought-after performers. He gave the world premiere of Jonathan Miller's acclaimed production of the St Matthew Passion, which he also recorded for United and broadcast on BBC TV; he has repeated his performance in three revivals of the production at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York.

In demand for oratorio and opera, Rufus Müller has worked with many leading conductors including Franz Welser-Möst, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Roger Norrington, Ivor Bolton, Richard Hickox, Nicholas McGegan, Gustav Leonhardt, Frans Brüggen, Trevor Pinnock, Philippe Herreweghe, Joshua Rifkin, Andrew Parrott, Nicholas Kraemer and Ivan Fischer. He has given solo recitals in the Wigmore Hall and the Barbican Concert Hall in London as well as for BBC Radio, and in Munich, Tokyo, Barcelona, Madrid, Utrecht, Paris, Salzburg and New York. He has a regular partnership with the pianist Maria João Pires with whom he has performed in Spain, Portugal, Germany, Ireland, Japan and the UK, notably in a three-concert Schubertiade in Spain and London's Wigmore Hall.

Operatic roles include Tamino (Garsington Opera) Lucano in L'Incoronazione di Poppea (Houston Grand Opera), the title roles in Rameau's Pygmalion and Lully's Persée (Opera Atelier in Toronto), the title role in Monteverdi's Orfeo (Opera Zuid in The Netherlands), Aminta in Peri's Euridice (Opéra de Normandie), Alessandro in Handel's Poro (Halle) and Lurcanio in Handel's Ariodante in Göttingen with Nicholas McGegan released on a prize-winning disc by Harmonia Mundi USA. He has also sung Tersandre in Lully's Roland with René Jacobs in Paris, Lisbon and Montpellier, Giuliano in Handel's Rodrigo in Siena, Castor in Rameau's Castor et Pollux in Magdeburg, Il Ritorno di Ulisse in Patria in Athens, Florence and Cremona, Oronte in Alcina with Paul Goodwin and the Academy of Ancient Music in Montreux and Poissy, Soliman Zaide with Ivor Bolton and the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra in London, and the title role in the modern-day premiere of Manuel Garcia's Don Chisciotte which toured Spain as part of the country's celebrations of Cervantes 400th anniversary.

Other recordings include Bach's St John Passion and Bach Cantatas with John Elliot Gardiner for DG Archiv, Mozart's Die Zauberflöte and Beethoven's Choral Fantasia with Roger Norrington for EMI, Dowland's First Book of Airs with lutenist Christopher Wilson for ASV, Haydn's O Tuneful Voice and songs by Benda with soprano Emma Kirkby and three recordings of 19th-century songs with Invocation, all for Hyperion, Telemann's Admiralitätsmusik on CPO, Telemann solo cantatas on Capriccio, Ned Rorem's Evidence of Things Not Seen with the New York Festival of Song on New World Records, songs by Franz Lachner with Christoph Hammer on Oehms Classics, Haydn's Creation with Oxford Philomusica with Edward HIgginbottom, and Messiah with the National Cathedral, Washington DC and Michael McCarthy.

Rufus Müller's numerous performances as the Evangelist include Lucerne, Munich, Toronto, Calgary, New York, London, Birmingham, Göteborg, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Dortmund, Bordeaux, Washington DC. His many performances of Messiah include regular appearances at Carnegie Hall in New York, a televised tour in Spain with Trevor Pinnock and the English Concert, as well as performances in Canada, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and the UK. Numerous other concert engagements have included Bach Cantatas with John Eliot Gardiner in London, works by Bach and Handel with the Philhamonia Baroque Orchestra and Nicholas McGegan in San Francisco, a European tour of Casals El Pessebre with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, Bach's Magnificat at the BBC Proms, and Finzi's Dies Natalis with the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiano and Thierry Fischer.

This year's recital engagements include Schubert's Die Schöne Müllerin with Matan Porat in Portugal, Winterreise with Maria Jõao Pires in Lisbon and on tour in Spain, and Schumann's Dichterliebe and Liederkreis Op.39 with fortepianist Christoph Hammer in Germany. In addition Rufus will perform the title role in Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito in Germany, and Beethoven's 9th Symphony with Tafelmusik Orchestra and Bruno Weill in Toronto.

Rufus Müller was born in Kent, England and was a choral scholar at New College, Oxford. He is at present studying in New York with Thomas LoMonaco. In 1985 he won first prize in the English Song Award in Brighton, and in 1999 was a prize winner in the Oratorio Society of New York Singing Competition. He is Assistant Professor of Music at Bard College, New York.

 

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