Ben Johnson

Tenor Ben Johnson is a versatile figure who has a large repertory of opera from the Baroque to the 20th century, as well as oratorio and art song. He is also active as a conductor, educator, and organization artistic director.

Johnson was born in London in 1983. In 2002, he entered the undergraduate course at the Royal College of Music in London, studying with Neil Mackie and graduating in 2006. He went on to the RCM's Benjamin Britten International Opera School. Johnson won several important prizes, including the school's Lieder Prize and English Song Prize, and a prize at the Wigmore Hall International Song Competition. Early in his career, he distinguished himself with oratorio performances around England, often singing the St. John and St. Matthew Passions of <a href="spotify:artist:5aIqB5nVVvmFsvSdExz408">Bach</a> and frequently performing in oratorio with the <a href="spotify:artist:1sylrdKARMDYTJbs8IPWGy">London Mozart Players</a>. Johnson made his operatic debut in France in 2005, in a production of <a href="spotify:artist:1QL7yTHrdahRMpvNtn6rI2">Handel</a>'s Rodelinda, and he joined Britain's National Opera Studio in 2008. He has since appeared at top venues around the U.K. and elsewhere, including the English National Opera, the Opéra de Lyon, and, in 2021, the Grange Festival. Johnson continued to rack up honors, including designation as a BBC New Generation Artist, and in 2013, he represented England at the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World contest.

Johnson has made several recordings, beginning with an appearance in a production of Verdi's Otello conducted by <a href="spotify:artist:0TrG2LSot4KhaXqdf5K2zE">Sir Colin Davis</a> in 2010. He issued I Heard You Singing, an album of English songs, on the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Opus+Arte%22">Opus Arte</a> label in 2016 and was then signed to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Chandos%22">Chandos</a>, recording an album of songs by Arthur Sullivan the following year. Johnson was heard on a recording of Arthur Bliss' The Beatitudes in 2018, and in 2021, he issued The Harmonious Echo, a second volume of <a href="spotify:artist:1jK7F6jheJ08CowHGDW6IN">Sullivan</a> songs.