Biography
Belfast-born Bass-Baritone, tennis fanatic and technophile, Timothy Murphy started singing on the highest stave but these days is always to be found on the lowest. He first discovered his voice when he was recruited to sing in the choir of St George’s Parish Church.
Wanting to continue the development of his voice, he was awarded a Choral Scholarship to sing with Wells Cathedral Choir. After completing a year in Somerset he moved to Bristol where he graduated with Honours reading Music at the University of Bristol. In 2008 he was offered the position of Bass Lay Clerk at Ripon Cathedral where he stayed for two years before moving to London to pursue new musical adventures.
Since moving to London in the autumn of 2010 he has provided a wide variety of musical services including as Gentleman of the Chapel Royal at Hampton Court Palace and the Tower of London, a member of the choir of St George’s, Hanover Square, the Royal Hospital, Chelsea and now The Brompton Oratory. He deputises for other singers around the major churches in London including Westminster Abbey, St. Paul’s Cathedral.
In more public events Timothy performs solo, ensemble and operatic roles, many recorded, such as Choirs of Angels with the choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford (shortlisted for a 2013 Gramophone Award), a new disc of evening canticles on Hyperion with St. Paul’s Cathedral, Stile Antico’s The Phoenix Rising (winner of the Diapason d’Or’ and CHOC du Classica), Platinum Consort’s debut album In the Dark (Classic FM’s Album of the Weekend), Missa Ad coenam Agni & Eastertide motets with The Brabant Ensemble, and Water Night, the US and UK chart-topping album by the Eric Whitacre Singers. Timothy also sings with some of the premier ensembles in the UK including The Monteverdi Choir, The Sixteen, Tenebrae, London Voices and Britten Sinfonia Voices.
As of September 2013, Timothy studied for his Masters in Vocal Performance at the Royal Academy of Music under Mark Wildman and Audrey Hyland. He was the winner of the 2014 Michael Head Prize for English Song. In September 2015 he joined the RAM Opera School on a full scholarship.
Operatic highlights to date include creating the role of Bass 3 in the world premier of Stockhausen’s Mittwoch aus Licht with Birmingham Opera Company and again later at the BBC Proms; Bartolo in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, the Headman in May Night by Rimsky-Korsakov and Seneca in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea with Royal Academy Opera, making his German operatic debut in Weimar, performing Sarastro in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, and covering four roles as Ensemble 3 in Shostakovich’s The Nose at The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. He joined the chorus at Glyndebourne in 2015 for their productions of Donizetti’s Poliuto and Bizet’s Carmen and covered Escamillo in The Grange Festival’s Carmen.
In 2017 he toured with Glyndebourne singing within the solo ensemble on Brett Dean’s Hamlet. For the 2017/20 seasons he is a member of the Studio de Opéra de Lyon. He made his debut in Lyon in the premiere of Raskatov’s GerMANIA and returned in 2019 to play Capulet and Benvolio in Blacher’s Romeo and Juliet. Timothy continues his vocal studies with Richard Berkeley-Steele and Jean-Paul Fouchecourt.
In addition to the world of opera, Timothy performs in oratorio around the UK and Europe. Highlights include ten solo performances of Handel’s Messiah in a production staged by Le Ballet de l’Opéra National de Bordeaux in Bordeaux Opera House, Messiah in Wexford Opera House, Bach’s Weihnachts-Oratorium in Kristiansand, Norway and this Easter he will return to Norway for performances of Bach’s Ascension Oratorio with the Norwegian Wind Ensemble.
Timothy was granted the Marjorie Gould Award by the Academy to study for his Masters. He is also a recipient of a bursary from The Opera Awards Foundation and has received generous support from the Carr-Gregory Scholarship, Karaviotis Scholarship, William Gibbs Trust, Kathleen Trust and the Josephine Baker Trust.
Timothy’s passion for music is accompanied by a great enthusiasm for tennis and bookbinding.
For information of upcoming performances, please click here.
Timothy is represented by Robert Gilder and Company
* For a current concert biography, please contact me directly.