Birth name James Andrew Olds Name James Olds Origin Australian Role Musical Artist | Years active 2004–present Genres Opera Website James Olds | |
Born February 20, 1986 (age 38)
Sydney, Australia ( 1986-02-20 ) | ||
James Andrew Olds (born 20 February 1986) is an Australian bass-baritone. He has performed with Opera Australia, Diva Opera, Musica Viva, London Contemporary Opera and was a Young Artist with Pacific Opera. Olds had over 100 performances with the Opera Australia chorus before relocating to London in 2012 to accept a scholarship for the Artist Masters Programme at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. In 2013, Olds performed at Wigmore Hall as a finalist in the Australian Music Foundation Award and performed the role of Betto in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi for St. Paul's Summertime Opera. For the Guildhall School of Music and Drama's Opera Scenes showcases, Olds has performed the roles of Rocco (Fidelio, Beethoven), Dr Dulcamara (L'elisir d'amore, Donizetti) and Leporello (Don Giovanni, Mozart). Also in 2013, he traveled the United Kingdom and France with Diva Opera performing the role of Un Ufficiale in Rossini's The Barber of Seville. Olds was the winner of the 34th National Liederfest in Melbourne and recently worked with Elly Ameling, Helmut Deutsch and Julius Drake at the Franz-Schubert-Institut in Baden bei Wien, Austria. In 2015, Olds performed the role of Count Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro for Rockdale Opera Company. In 2016, Olds will be performing the role of Officer in The Barber of Seville for Opera Australia.
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Biography
Olds holds a Master of Music in Performance from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. In 2009, Olds joined the Opera Australia Chorus and covered the role of Samuel in The Pirates of Penzance (2010). During his time there he has performed in Fidelio (2009), Der Rosenkavalier (2010), Macbeth (2011), Lakmé (2011), La bohème (2011), The Mikado (2011), The Merry Widow(2011) and La traviata on Sydney Harbour (2012). In 2010, Olds was a member of the Young Artist Programme at Pacific Opera and began studying under Australian baritone Michael Lewis.
In 2011, Olds performed the bass solo in Beethoven's 9th Symphony with the Willoughby Symphony Orchestra at the opening of Sydney's Concourse Concert Hall. In 2013, Olds accepted a scholarship into the Artist Masters Programme at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (GSMD) in London where he studied under Marilyn Rees. That same year, Olds toured UK and France with Diva Opera performing the role of Ufficiale in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia and was a finalist of the Australian Music Foundation Awards at Wigmore Hall. In London, Olds performed the role of Betto in St. Paul's production of Puccini's Gianni Schicchi sung with London Contemporary Opera on the newly commissioned British opera The Shmürz and covered the role of The Drum Maker in Jonathan Dove's The Adventures of Pinocchio. Olds also performed the roles of Rocco (Fidelio), Leporello (Don Giovanni) and Dr. Dulcamara (L'elisir d'amore) as part of GSMD's postgraduate Opera Showcase at the Milton Court Studio in London.
This year, Olds was the winner of 34th National Liederfest and traveled to Vienna, Austria, to take part in an intensive six-week programme at the Franz-Schubert-Institut where he worked with Elly Ameling, Helmut Deutsch, Julius Drake, Robert Holl and Rudolf Jansen. Olds recently returned home to Sydney to perform the role of Count Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro at Rockdale Opera Company and Officer in The Barber of Seville for Opera Australia. In 2016, Olds will once again join the Opera Australia chorus for La bohème, Carmen, Simon Boccanegra and The Love for Three Oranges.