Alexander Thow

Alexander is a versatile British countertenor whose repertoire spans oratorio, opera, song, and early music.

He is an experienced oratorio soloist, supported by the Josephine Baker Trust. Recent engagements include Handel’s Dixit Dominus with the London Mozart Players; Handel’s Messiah and Israel in Egypt; J.S. Bach’s Mass in B Minor, St John Passion and Magnificat; and Purcell’s Come Ye Sons of Art with Cambridge Early Music. Alexander is an Emerging Artist of the Brighton Early Music Festival alongside lutenist Augustin Cornwall Irving. The duo performed as part of the Utrecht Early Music Festival in September.

At the Royal Academy of Music, Alexander studies with Marcus van den Akker and Iain Ledingham, and is a recipient of the Juliens Award, an Academy Baroque Soloist, and a member of the Academy Song Circle. In Vocal Faculty Scenes, Alexander has portrayed Arsace in Handel’s Partenope and Cherubino in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro. In RAO Scenes later this term he is set to play the roles of Armando in Meyebeer’s Il Crociato in Egitto and the Angel Gabriel and Balthazar in John Adams’ El Niño. With a keen interest in contemporary music, he was part of the premiere of a short opera for the Academy’s Opera Makers programme, which was recently performed again at the Tête à Tête Festival.

Before beginning his vocal studies, Alexander studied Natural Sciences at Trinity College, Cambridge and graduated with a master’s degree in chemistry. In his time there he sang with the choirs of Trinity College and St John’s College, recording multiple albums and performing in venues across Europe and the USA. Alexander is also a pianist, with concert experience including Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2, and he regularly collaborates with other singers in recitals and competitions.