Ben Johnson quickly established himself as one of the most exciting tenors of his generation. He studied with Neil Mackie and Tim Evans-Jones at the Royal College of Music Benjamin Britten International Opera School. Winner of the Kathleen Ferrier Awards in 2008, he is also a prizewinner at the Wigmore Hall International Song Competition and the Gerald Moore Awards (singer’s prize). He is currently a member of the BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists Scheme, and studies with Jeffrey Talbot.
Johnson’s recent opera engagements include a critically acclaimed Novice in Michael Grandage’s new production of Billy Budd at Glyndebourne Festival Opera conducted by Sir Mark Elder, Copland’s The Tender Land at Opéra de Lyon and productions for Scottish Opera and the Classical Opera Company. In concerts he has recently sung Orbin in Elgar Caractacus with the Philharmonia under Sir Andrew Davis, Handel Samson under Harry Bicket and music by Frank Bridge with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales at the BBC Proms, Mozart concert arias under Jiří Bělohlávek, Britten Les Illuminations under Francesco Corti, Evangelist St Matthew Passion under Nicholas Kraemer, and in Wozzeck under Esa-Pekka Salonen. Other repertoire include Britten Serenade with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Strauss Lieder with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Haydn Paukenmesse and Britten Nicolas Cantata at De Doelen in Rotterdam, Mozart Requiem with the Philharmonia Orchestra, Handel Messiah with the English Chamber Orchestra, and his debut with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. He has also appeared at the Three Choirs, Aldeburgh, and Brighton Festivals.
In recital he works regularly with Graham Johnson. They have performed together at the Wigmore Hall, the Klavier Festival in the Ruhr in Germany, and at Snape in Aldeburgh. Most recently, they have also recorded songs by Poulenc for Hyperion records. Johnson has also worked with Malcolm Martineau at Aldeburgh Festival, Roger Vignoles at the Gergiev Festival in Rotterdam, and James Baillieu at the Wigmore Hall and for the City of London Festival.
Highlights in 2011/12 season include Nemorino The Elixir of Love for English National Opera and Don Ottavio Don Giovanni for Opéra National de Bordeaux, Britten Canticles at deSingel, Antwerp with Roger Vignoles, Messiah with the Academy of Ancient Music in Palermo, Antwerp and London, Melot and Shepherd in concert performances of Tristan und Isolde with the CBSO, St Matthew Passion with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, and concerts with the BBC Philharmonic and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestras. In future seasons, he will also make debuts with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Residentie Orkest.
Johnson is currently an ENO Young Singer and a Wigmore Hall Emerging Talent.
Ben Johnson is represented by Intermusica worldwide.
June 2011 / 430 words. Not to be altered without permission. Please destroy all previous biographical material.
Rosenblatt Recital / St John’s Smith Square
Acc. James Baillieu
“On arrival at St John’s it was to find that the expected tenor was no longer appearing. Any disappointment was swiftly dispelled however; stand-in tenor Ben Johnson has a fine, bold Italianate voice which quite belies his Hertfordshire roots but amply justifies his already amassed honours (including the Kathleen Ferrier Award and membership of the BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists Scheme).”
Martin Cullingford, Gramophone, November 2011
Schwanengesang / Recital at Wigmore Hall / BBC Lunchtime Concert
Acc. James Baillieu
“Johnson...authoritative and emotive in the sombre songs.
“In der Ferne’ was notable for the starkness of its delivery, the “glittering evening star” truly “sinking without hope”, while there was a hint of light in ‘Ihr Bild’, before darkness descended again.”
Ben Hogwood,
Classical Source, October 2011
Nemorino / Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love / English National Opera
Cond. Rory Macdonald / Original Dir. Jonathan Miller
Revival Dir. Elaine Tyler-Hall
“Ben Johnson’s Nerorino started off looking rough and even mildly antisocial, but consciously martened up when Benedict Nelson’s over-confidant , god’s-gift-in-uniform Sergeant Belcore showed up on the scene; Johnson’s suave, carefully-shaped line climaxed in an immaculately delivered ‘Una furtive lagrima’ which had the audience hanging on his every note.”
George Hall, Opera, November 2011
“Johnson caused something of a stir as the Novice in Glyndebourne's Billy Budd last year. Nemorino is his first big role for ENO, and he makes a tremendous impression. There's a supple ease to his voice and a stylish elegance to his phrasing. He's an appealing actor, with huge, expressive eyes and a slightly hangdog air: the way he charts Nemorino's transformation from shy nerd to self-possessed lover is wonderfully touching.”
Tim Ashley, The Guardian, September 2011
“Here this part – which furnished Pavarrotti with his signature tune – is sung by the young tenor Ben Johnson in his first big role, and a fine fist he makes of it. Even before he’s opened his mouth he’s telling us via body-language what a sweet dimwit he is, and his first aria is full of plangent despair.”
Michael Church, The Independent, September 2011
“Johnson sings with distinction, shaping Donizetti’s lines impeccably and holding the house spellbound with his hit number, Una furtiva lagrima.”
George Hall, The Stage, September 2011
“Ben Johnson (a notable Novice in Glyndebourne‘s Billy Budd) is a great success as Nemorino, cast here as a love-sick, hick garage mechanic.
He sang a touching ‘Una furtiva lagrima’ of unexpected pathos…As well as his lyrical singing, Johnson also looked the part, not so much anonymous as overlooked, and with a brave little Elvis quiff indicating that he’s at least trying to make the best of himself.”
Peter Reed, ClassicalSource.com, September 2011
“In Ben Johnson's role debut as Nemorino, Shore and Tynan gained a perfect foil. Johnson managed to tread the fine line between loser and superhunk: his tenor was gloriously free across the entire register, his reading of the opera's hit aria, 'Una furtiva lagrima' (here, 'I saw a tear fall from her eye') truly luxurious.”
Flora Willson, MusicalCriticism.com, September 2011
“...Meanwhile, Ben Johnson captures the hangdog hopelessness that eventually breaks her heart.
Ben Johnson rises winningly to the challenge of his big showpiece (Una furtive lagrima in the original: "One furtive teardrop"), an aria that seems to carry more weight than the opera can bear, yet which always wrenches the heart.”
Nick Kimberley, London Evening Standard, September 2011
“ENO has been quick to pinpoint Ben Johnson as that rare phenomenon, an English tenor who can sing Italian bel canto like a native. This gifted young singer, so striking as the Novice in last year’s Glyndebourne Billy Budd, shines like a new star as he combines his exquisite, unforced vocal line with a shambling comic touch that eluded his predecessor in the central role of Nemorino.”
Mark Valencia, WhatsOnStage, September 2011
“Ben Johnson has had big success in competitions, and one can hear why, since his is a sensitively used tenor…capable of both volume and sweetness when required.”
Melaine Eskenazi, musicOMH, September 2011
“Proving himself capable of filling the Coliseum stage with his personality, Ben Johnson (making his major role debut at ENO) delighted the audience with his deftly characterised Nemorino, all quirky gestures and beaten-down optimism.”
Alexandra Coghlan, The Arts Desk, September 2011
Bridge / Blow out you bugles / BBC National Orchestra of Wales / BBC Proms Royal Albert Hall / Cond. François-Xavier Roth
“Valiant performances from tenor Ben Johnson, conductor Francois-Xavier Roth, and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales.”
Michael Church, The Independent, August 2011
“Not the least considerable from his substantial body of songs, Frank Bridge’s setting of Rupert Brooke’s elegiac Blow out, you bugles (1918) seems better served in its piano guise, for all that Ben Johnson drew no mean eloquence from within the prevailing portentousness.”
Richard Whitehouse, Classical Source, August 2011
Britten: Complete Songs Vol 1 / Acc. Malcolm Martineau
CD Onyx (B004UVCP44)
“Another attraction here is the oppotunity to sample some of Britain's best young singers... Ben Johnson, whose strong and intense singing of The Holy Sonnets of John Donne nails his colours to the Britten mast with impressive authority.”
Richard Fairman, Gramophone, September 2011
‘Ben Johnson: New Face’ / Feature in The Telegraph
“His sound and style is rich, warm and Italianate – more Pavarotti than Bostridge.”
The Telegraph, July 2011
Novice / Britten Billy Budd / Glyndebourne Festival Opera (DVD)
Cond. Sir Mark Elder / Dir. Michael Grandage
"... the youthful Ben Johnson [is] a touching Novice."
Roger Pines, International Record Review, July/August 2011
Britten: Complete Songs Vol 1 / Acc. Malcolm Martineau
CD Onyx (B004UVCP44)
“… Ben Johnson gives an aptly salonesque performance of Britten’s Wordsworth setting, Lucy… And Johnson gives a deeply thoughtful reading of The Holy Sonnets of John Donne.”
Hilary Finch, BBC Music Magazine, July 2011
“The John Donne sonnets (Ben Johnson)…are very fine.”
Nicholas Kenyon, The Guardian, June 2011
Recital with Geraldine McGreevy and Martin Hässler / Klavierfestival am Ruhr
Accomp. Graham Johnson
“It was not only due to the pianist’s overall concept, but also thanks to the singers that the audience experienced astonishment, recognition and enjoyment, and that this concert was entertainment in the best possible sense of the word. (…) Ben Johnson used his characterful voice to great effect. (…) With his effortless, ringing tone, Ben Johnson created a faint, otherworldly atmosphere for Über allen Gipfeln ist Ruh, and a dramatic, operatic sheen for Liszt’s Der du von dem Himmel bist.”
Martin Schrahn, Der Westen, June 2011
Novice in Britten Billy Budd
Glyndebourne Festival Opera / cond. Sir Mark Elder / dir. Michael Grandage
“Of key roles it’s almost invidious to single anyone out but one should mention the trio of senior officers, Matthew Rose’s Flint, Darren Jeffrey’s Ratcliffe, and the ever-impressive Iain Patterson as Redburn. And further down the food chain, Ben Johnson’s affectingly sung Novice.”
Edward Seckerson, The Independent, May 2010
“The smaller roles are uniformly well taken, with Jeremy White as Dansker, Ben Johnson as the Novice and Matthew Rose, Iain Paterson and Darren Jeffery as the three officers all outstanding.”
Andrew Clements, The Guardian, May 2010
“The award-winning young tenor Ben Johnson makes his mark as the Novice”
Rupert Christiansen, The Telegraph, May 2010
“And Ben Johnson is striking as the sadistically humiliated Novice”
Richard Morrison, The Times, May 2010
“Each cameo role in the all-male ensemble cast takes on personality and musical character, especially Ben Johnson's Novice”
Fiona Maddocks, The Guardian, May 2010
“Ben Johnson's anguished Novice is a haunting creation, broken by punishment and transformed into the drama's Judas.”
Michael Church, News Scotsman, May 2010
Berlioz Nuits d’été
Les Azuriales Festival
“A trio of outstanding British voices – David Kempster and Sarah-Jane Daives as the lovers, Ben Johnson as the butler – shared the songs with distracted, slow-burning intensity.”
Michael White, Opera Now, November 2009
Bach B Minor Mass / Tewskbruy Abbey
Rodolfus Choir / cond. Ralph Allwood
“Tenor Ben Johnson's Benedictus, with flute accompaniment, was a joy to listen to and created a sublime aura of peace.”
Roger Jones, Musicweb International, August 2009
Handel’s Messiah / Burford Parish church
Cotswold Chamber Orchestra / cond. Brian Kay
“Tenor Ben Johnson set the standard with his opening recitative and solo, Comfort ye/Every valley, both delivered with passion and conviction, and sung in gloriously warm, honeyed tones.”
Nicolas Lisle, The Times, April 2008
Handel’s Messiah / St. David’s Hall, Cardiff
Cardiff Polyphonic Choir / cond. Neil Harris
“…tenor Ben Johnson - awarded this year's Kathleen Ferrier prize - brought a dramatic edge to his recitatives”
Rian Evans, Guardian, December 2008
Aceste in Mozart’s Ascanio in Alba
Classical Opera Company / cond. Ian Page
"Big things beckon....for the tenor Ben Johnson, typically supple and ardent in the bit-part of Aceste"
Neil Fisher, The Times, December 2008
Winner of the Kathleen Ferrier Awards 2008 at Wigmore Hall
"Ben Johnson, at 24, was one who greatly impressed me. If Justice roams through the world of music, this young tenor should have a successful career."
John T. Hughes, Classical Music Source, April 2008
Title role in Britten’s Albert Herring
British Youth Opera / dir. William Kerley / cond. Peter Robinson
"Johnson's portrayal was masterly."
Michael Church, The Independent, September 2007
"Ben Johnson's raptly sensitive rendition of the title role"
Neil Fisher, The Times, September 2007