Ashley Holland is establishing himself as one of the most sought-after young baritones for the 19th century Italian repertory on both sides of the Atlantic. Following his recent highly-successful debut as Don Pedro in Donizetti's Maria Padilla with Minnesota Opera, he was immediately invited back for the role of Orazio in their new production of Mercadante's Orazi e Curiazi in 2006.
He studied at Warwick University and as a postgraduate at the Royal Northern College of Music. At the RNCM he won the Webster Booth/Esso Competition and the Curtis Gold Meda. In 1995 he was the English representative in the Cardiff Singer of the World Competition and in 1998 Ashley Holland won the RANIERI I cestelli competizione dell' opera in Hamburg.
He was for several seasons a principal baritone at English National Opera, where his roles included Zurga Pearl Fishers, Sharpless Madam Butterfly, Guglielmo in Cosi fan tutte, Cecil in Donizetti's Maria Stuarda, Belcore in a new production of L'Elisir D'Amore, Lescaut in a new production of Massenet's Manon, Ottakar in a new production of Der Freischutz, Marcello La Boheme and Escamillo Carmen. He also sang the baritone role in ENO's co-production with the Mark Morris Dance Group of Handel's L'Allegro. Other engagements include Antonio in concert performances of Linda di Chamounix with Mark Elder and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, his first Don Giovanni for Calgary Opera, his debut with Cincinnati Opera as Sharpless Madama Butterfly, roles in Candide with the London Symphony Orchestra/Kent Nagano and in Weill's Der Protagonist and The Royal Palace (also recorded) with the BBCSO conducted by Sir Andrew Davis, his debut at the Bastille Opera as Bosun Billy Budd, his debut with Semperoper Dresden as Ford in a new production of Falstaff, Giacomo in Giovanna d'Arco with the Chelsea Opera Group and Germont pere in Traviata with Opera Pacific.
His concert engagements include major tours of Mahler's 8th Symphony with the SWF Sinfonie Orchester conducted by Michael Gielen (including his debut at the Musikverein in Vienna), and the Orchestre National de Lille, Britten's War Requiem in London, Handel's Messiah at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig with Herbert Blomstedt, the Messiah and Orff's Carmina Burana with The Halle in Manchester, Brahms' Requiem at The Barbican, Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius at the Royal Albert Hall, Bach St Matthew Passion with English Chamber Orchestra, Messiah with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra/Herbert Blomstedt, concerts with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and Bournemouth Symphony orchestras, and performances of Weill's Royal Palace and Lord Mountararat Iolanthe at the BBC Proms. His recordings include Belcore in The Elixir of Love and Ford in Falstaff with Paul Daniels, both for Chandos Records.
Recent engagements include Ford Falstaff at ENO, with the Halle Orchestra and in Dresden, Creon Oedipus Rex for Opera North, Giorgio Germont La Traviata, Don Carlo Ernani and Belcore L'Elisir d'Amore for ENO, debuts with Lausanne Opera as Junius The Rape of Lucretia and with the Royal Opera Covent Garden as Masetto Don Giovanni, Marcello La Boheme in Dresden, Enrico Lucia di Lammermoor for his debut with Chicago Lyric Opera, his first Amfortas Parsifal in Graz, Sharpless for Opera Pacific, La Vera Storia in Hamburg and Mahler's Kindertotenlieder in performances of Antony Tudors Dark Elegies for the Rambert Dance Company in Aldeburgh and London.
Current engagements and future plans include Marquis de la Force Dialogues of the Carmelites and Mr Redburn Billy Budd with ENO, Orazio Orazi e Curiazzi (Minnesota), Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen with the BBC Philhamonic and Vassily Sinaisky, and Faure Requiem and Vaughan Williams' Five Mystical Songs at the Hong Kong Festival. In 2006 he will create the title role in Detlev Glanert's Caligula which will be given its world premiere at the Frankfurt Opera followed by further performances at Cologne Opera.
