Johnny Herford

Johnny Herford graduated with distinction from the Royal Academy of Music Opera department in 2012, and the next year won prizes at the Kathleen Ferrier Competition and the Wigmore Hall International Song Competition. In 2014, Johnny was chosen by Philip Glass to create the role of Josef K in his opera, The Trial, in a collaboration between the Royal Opera House and Music Theatre Wales. Johnny has also performed the role of Josef K for Theater Magdeburg, making his German debut in April 2015. Recent performances have included Traveller (Curlew River) and Kuligin (Katya Kabanova) for Opéra de Dijon, Nikitsch (Boris Godunov) with Jakub Hrůša and the Philharmonia Orchestra, Emireno (Ottone) for English Touring Opera, the Scottish Opera Highlights Tour, and a return to Music Theatre Wales for an opera by Peter Eötvös, The Golden Dragon. As a recitalist, Johnny has performed at the Machynlleth, Leeds Lieder, Oxford Lieder, and the En Blanc et Noir Festivals, in repertoire including Schubert’s Winterreise and Die Schöne Müllerin, Schumann’s Myrthen, Strauss’s Acht Gedichte aus “Letzte Blätter“, and Britten’s Songs and Proverbs of William Blake. In 2016 he made his solo recital debut at the Wigmore Hall with James Baillieu in a programme of Schumann, Ravel and Judith Weir.