Christopher "Chris" Watson is a British tenor specialising in Early music, Baroque and Contemporary repertoire.
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Born in Leamington Spa on 10 January 1969, and raised in Canterbury, Kent in England, Watson studied tuba before reading music at the University of Exeter. Having sung in and directed Exeter University Chapel Choir, he went on to hold positions as lay clerk at Durham Cathedral, Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, and Westminster Cathedral. He regularly sings as a soloist, and as a consort singer with The Tallis Scholars, with whom he has made more than 200 appearances, Alamire, Gallicantus and Collegium Vocale Gent. He also performs regularly with Tenebrae and Theatre of Voices, among others. His conducting work includes the Oxford-based chamber choir Sospiri, and the chapel choir of St Edmund Hall, Oxford.
Music
In concert he has performed, among others, the role of the Evangelist in the settings of The Passion by J.S. Bach, most recently at Christ Church Oxford, Durham, Canterbury and Manchester Cathedrals, as well as the Christmas Oratorio and the Mass in B Minor. He has presented the World Premières of David Lang’s Pulitzer-winning Little Match Girl Passion at Carnegie Hall, and The Stones of the Arch by Gavin Bryars with the Kronos Quartet. With Theatre of Voices he has given performances of Stockhausen’s Stimmung, and with them has recorded Luciano Berio’s A Ronne and Arvo Pärt’s Stabat Mater. As a recitalist, he has also performed 20th Century Art song, including songs by Herbert Howells, Gerald Finzi and Peter Warlock.
Discography
His discography includes, for Harmonia Mundi, Arvo Pärt's Creator Spiritus and a Grammy-winning recording of David Lang’s Little Match Girl Passion with Paul Hillier and Theatre of Voices. For Gimell he has recorded Palestrina's Missa Papae Marcelli and Victoria's Lamentations of Jeremiah with The Tallis Scholars.