Michael Chance
Michael Chance is one of the world's leading countertenors, in demand worldwide for appearances in opera, on the recital stage, and in chamber music performances. Chance is the artistic director of the Grange Festival, where he is one of the few singers to lead a major opera company.
Chance was born in Penn, in England's Buckinghamshire region, on March 7, 1955. As a child, he was a chorister at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, and he attended the local St. George's school and the Eaton College boarding school. Chance went on to King's College, Cambridge, where he sang in the Choir of King's College and was a choral scholar, having his studies supported in exchange for singing daily services at the college chapel and pursuing musical training as well as studies in English literature. After graduating, he studied voice with Rupert Bruce Lockhart. Chance made his debut at the Buxton Festival in 1983 in a production of Cavalli's Giasone. For three seasons, he was a member of the Kent Opera Company. In 1985, he made his European debut in Lyon, France, in a production of Handel's Tamerlano. At the time, the use of countertenors in Baroque opera was just coming into vogue, and Chance's reputation spread rapidly. He has appeared at many of the world's major opera houses, including Covent Garden in London, La Scala in Milan, and several major opera houses in the Western hemisphere. In addition to major Baroque operas, Chance has championed 20th century and contemporary opera, taking roles in several operas of Benjamin Britten and stimulating the creation of new works by such composers as Richard Rodney Bennett, John Tavener, and even Elvis Costello. Chance has often performed as a chamber music recitalist. In 2015, he became the artistic director of the new opera company The Grange Festival in Hampshire, becoming one of the few internationally famous singers and perhaps the only countertenor to head a major opera company.
Chance has a large catalog of recordings that began in 1988 with an album of duets by Purcell and Blow that he performed with legendary countertenor James Bowman. He has recorded for Hyperion, Chandos, and Harmonia Mundi, among other labels, with a repertory ranging from lute songs to contemporary opera. In 2021, Chance was heard on the album Proud Songsters: English Solo Song, released on the King's College Choir label.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Discography
19 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Buxtehude: Sacred Cantatas, Vol. 2
Purcell Quartet, Emma Kirkby, Michael Chance, Charles Daniels, Peter Harvey
Cantatas (sacred) - Released by Chandos on 1 Aug 2005
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: Early Cantatas, Vol. 1
Emma Kirkby, Michael Chance, Charles Daniels, Peter Harvey, Purcell Quartet
Cantatas (sacred) - Released by Chandos on 1 Feb 2005
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
John Tavener: The Hidden Face
Classical - Released by harmonia mundi on 3 Nov 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Kaglied - Concertos allemands sacrés
Sacred Vocal Music - Released by Chandos on 1 May 2001
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Art of Counter Tenor
Classical - Released by Archiv Produktion on 1 Jan 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi: Stabat mater; Nisi Dominus; Salve Regina
Michael Chance, Monica Huggett, Lisa Beznosiuk, The English Concert, Trevor Pinnock
Classical - Released by Archiv Produktion on 1 Jan 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach, J.S.: Easter Cantatas BWV 6 & 66
Classical - Released by Archiv Produktion on 1 Jan 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
English Ayres by Thomas Campion
Classical - Released by Linn Records on 1 Oct 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Songs
Michael Chance, Richard Boothby, Maggie Cole, Nigel North & Florilegium
Classical - Released by Brilliant Classics on 3 Aug 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: Early Cantatas, Vol. 3
Emma Kirkby, Michael Chance, Charles Daniels, Peter Harvey, Purcell Quartet
Cantatas (sacred) - Released by Chandos on 1 Sep 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Handel: Messiah, HWV 56 (Unedited version in English from 1748, performed according to the traditions of the time)
Maulbronner Kammerchor, Jürgen Budday, Michael Chance
Classical - Released by K&K Verlagsanstalt on 5 May 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Purcell & Blow: Countertenor Duets
James Bowman, Michael Chance, The King'S Consort
Classical - Released by Hyperion on 1 Mar 1988
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Couperin: Leçons de ténèbres
James Bowman, Michael Chance, Robert King
Classical - Released by Hyperion on 1 Nov 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
J.S. Bach: Mass in G Major, BWV 236, Mass in F Major, BWV 233, Trio Sonata, BWV 529 (Lutheran Masses, Vol. 2)
Nancy Argenta, Michael Chance, Mark Padmore, Peter Harvey, Purcell Quartet
Masses, Passions, Requiems - Released by Chandos on 1 Feb 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Purcell Quartet Plays German Sacred Concertos
Purcell Quartet, Michael Chance
Sacred Vocal Music - Released by Chandos on 1 May 2001
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Handel: Samson (English Oratorio HWV 57, performed according to the traditions of the time)
Maulbronner Kammerchor, Jürgen Budday, Michael Chance
Classical - Released by K&K Verlagsanstalt on 2 May 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Elizabethan Lute Songs
Michael Chance, Christopher Wilson
Chamber Music - Released by Chandos on 1 Apr 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Danyel: Like as the Lute Delights
Classical - Released by Stradivarius on 7 Jan 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Agricola: Chansons
Art Songs, Mélodies & Lieder - Released by harmonia mundi on 8 Aug 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo