Yaniv d'Or

The Israeli-British countertenor Yaniv d'Or has applied his flexible voice to a wide range of repertory and become one of the rising stars of his vocal specialty. He was born in Holon, Israel, on March 11, 1975, to Sephardic parents of Libyan Jewish background. After studies at the Rubin Academy of Music and Dance in Jerusalem, d'Or moved on to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. There he made a splash that led to a performance for Queen Elizabeth II. His operatic performances include the title roles in Handel's Giulio Cesare (at the New Israeli Opera, Göteborg Opera), Gluck's Orfeo (Lithuanian National Opera, New Israeli Opera), and Cavalli's Orion (Wilton Hall, London). He has also played Nerone and Ottone in Monteverdi's L’incoronazione di Poppea, the Sorceress in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas (which he has also recorded), and Tolomeo (Giulio Cesare). He has appeared in several contemporary operas, including Gil Shohat's The Child Dreams and Georgian-Israeli composer Ioseb Bardanashvili's Journey to the End of the Millennium, based on a novel by A.B. Yehoshua, at the New Israeli Opera. He is the founder of Ensemble NAYA, an Israeli early music group exploring interactions between Jewish traditions and those of the wider Western world, and his future plans include appearing in Sweden in an opera about the life of Italian Jewish composer Salomone Rossi. After signing with the Naxos label, d'Or released the critically acclaimed album Latino-Ladino. The album's exploration of Jewish influence in the music of Latin countries marked a return to roots for d'Or, who had sung a great deal of Christian repertory. "Every time I sing a Bach cantata, I wonder what my mum would say," d'Or told The Jewish Chronicle. "Or singing a Mass on a Sunday. She'd be shocked." At times d'Or has faced discrimination because of his Israeli background. Dividing his time between London and Tel Aviv, d'Or maintains busy performing schedules in both Europe and Israel. He is a citizen of the United Kingdom.
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