An honours graduate and choral scholar from New College, Oxford, Toby Spence studied at the Opera School of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He was the winner of the Royal Philharmonic Society 2011 Singer of the Year award.
In concert Toby has sung with some of the most renowned orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. He has appeared as a guest soloist at the Easter Festival in Salzburg and the Edinburgh International Festival. He has worked with an impressive array of conductors such as Christoph von Dohnanyi, Sir Simon Rattle, Michael Tilson Thomas, Sir Antonio Pappano, Valery Gergiev, Colin Davis, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Gustavo Dudamel, Edward Gardner, Roger Norrington and Charles Mackerras.
A prolific recitalist, Toby has given numerous solo recitals for BBC Radio 3 and at London’s Wigmore Hall and has appeared at LSO St Luke’s, Opera de Lille, at Northern Ireland Opera’s Festival of Voice, Janacek's Brno International Music Festival and Aldeburgh Festival. He has made numerous recordings for Deutsche Grammophon, Decca, BMG, Philips, Collins, Linn Records, Hyperion and EMI.
Recent concert appearances include his role debut as Hauptmann/Wozzeck with the Boston Symphony Orchestra cond. Andris Nelsons in Boston and at Carnegie Hall, a staged Christmas Oratorio at Teatro Arriaga directed by Calixto Bieito, Das Lied von der Erde with Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música cond. Stefan Blunier, Jack in Tippett’s The Midsummer Marriage with the LPO cond. Edward Gardner, Dvořák’s Stabat Mater , Mahler’s Das Klagendes Lied, and Mendelssohn’s Die Erste Walpurgisnacht with the Houston Symphony Orchestra, Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 at Atlanta Symphony Hall, Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings with the l'Orchestre National de Lyon, The Seasons with the Philharmonie de Paris, Bruckner’s F minor Mass with the Sinfonieorchester Basel, Das Lied von der Erde with the Budapest Festival Orchestra cond. Iván Fischer, Liszt’s Faust Symphony with the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, Britten’s War Requiem with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Shanghai Symphony cond. Long Yu for Deutsche Grammophon’s 120th anniversary, Jonathan Dove’s There Was A Child with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and Beethoven 9 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Operatic highlights include Aschenbach/Death in Venice for Opéra National du Rhin, Captain Vere in Deborah Warner’s Billy Budd for Teatro Real, Opera di Roma and ROH, Anatol/Vanessa for Frankfurt Opera, Don Ottavio for the Liceu Barcelona, Eisenstein/Die Fledermaus and Antonio/The Tempest for the Metropolitan Opera, Tito, Tamino and Henry Morosus/Die Schweigsame Frau for the Bayerische Staatsoper, Florestan/Fidelio for Garsington Opera and Opera North, Ghandi/Satyagraha at the English National Opera, Don Ottavio and Tito for the Wiener Staatsoper as well as Tom Rakewell and David/Die Meistersinger for Opéra de Paris. Toby’s longstanding relationship with ROH has seen him sing David/Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Tamino/Die Zauberflöte, Ferdinand/The Tempest, Count Almaviva/Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Ramiro/La Cenerentola , Tom Rakewell/The Rake’s Progress, and Essex/Gloriana.
The 21/22 season saw several role debuts including title role Parsifal for Opera North, Alwa/Lulu for La Monnaie, and Monsieur Taupe/Capriccio at the Bayerische Staatsoper, as well as Male Chorus/Rape of Lucretia for Kammerakademie Potsdam. Concert highlights included Bénédict/Béatrice et Bénédict for the Festival de la Côte Saint-André, St Matthew Passion with the Residentie Orkest in the Netherlands and Britten Les Illuminations with Teatro Filarmonico at the Arena di Verona.
Operatic plans for 22/23 include role debuts as Alonso/The Tempest for Teatro alla Scala and Erik/Der Fliegende Holländer for Teatro la Fenice. On the concert platform Toby sings Das Lied von der Erde Orchestre de Lille cond. Alexandre Bloch, St Matthew Passion for the Gulbenkian Foundation, Britten’s War Requiem with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, The Bells with the Philharmonia Orchestra cond. Stanislav Kochanovsky, and the Glagolitic Mass with the London Philharmonic Orchestra cond. Edward Gardner. Further ahead, Toby returns to the Wiener Staatsoper.