Tenor
Ian Hackett was born in Middlesbrough in the Northeast of England. After moving to London he discovered opera and started singing lessons with Christopher Davies. In 2001 he went to the Royal Northern College of Music, where he studied with Jeffrey Lawton and graduated with a Postgraduate diploma in Vocal and Opera Studies. Since turning professional he has been working in London with Colin Baldy and in Italy with the international conductor Nicoletta Conti.
He has performed full roles in a wide range of operas. Although now working mainly as a lirico-spinto tenor in the standard nineteenth century romantic repertoire he has performed principle roles in operas from across the full range of styles and eras. These include early music - Nero in L'Incoronazione di Poppea by Monteverdi; classical opera - Ferrando in Cosi fan tutte by Mozart; nineteenth century opera - Macduff in Verdi's Macbeth, Alfredo in Verdi's La Traviata, Manrico in Verdi's Il Trovatore, Faust in Faust by Gounod; and italian verismo - Rodolfo in Puccini's La Boheme. He has also performed principle roles in demanding contemporary operas - Gorleus in Louis Andriessen's De Materie; and, in 2004, he created and performed the dual principle tenor roles in a world premiere The Story of Orpheus by John Cauldwell for New College Opera in Oxford.
In July and August of 2004 he worked mainly in Italy on an italian theatre project run by the reknowned italian director Francesco Esposito. This included two original plays with music by Francesco Esposito, together with an opera concert and an adaptation of Alcesti by Euripedes, all presented as a week long festival in Monte Sant' Angelo, Puglia.
Equally at home on the concert platform, he regularly performs in concerts of opera, oratorio, operetta and light music. He has performed in solo recitals and with various ensembles across England and Italy. His prominent engagements have included the Verdi Requiem in Manchester, Handel Messiah and the Bach St. John Passion in Rome.
Most recently he has been performing in a series of concerts of Opera and Oratorio in and around Umbria Italy.
August 2005
