Baritone Ben Kazez initially studied computer science before embarking on a career in music, eventually becoming a Britten–Pears Young Artist and finishing postgraduate studies at London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama in summer 2018.
In his 2018–19 season, Ben’s solo appearances include Bach cantatas at Palau de la Musica, L’Auditori, and CaixaForum Barcelona and one-voice-per-part performances of Bach St Matthew Passion (Christus and arias), Monteverdi Vespers under Bishop David Stancliffe at Ely Cathedral, and Bach cantata ‘Wahrlich, wahrlich, ich sage euch’ (BWV 86) at Amsterdam’s Westerkerk. Ben will also join the Monteverdi Choir for a fully staged production of Berlioz Benvenuto Cellini under Sir John Eliot Gardiner at the BBC Proms, Royal Albert Hall.
Recent solo concert performances include Handel Theodora under Dame Sarah Connolly and Christian Curnyn at Snape Maltings (England), Bach cantatas at Snape Maltings with Mark Padmore, Handel Messiah at St John’s Smith Square (London), Handel Acis and Galatea with The Bishop’s Consort (England), and Dame Emma Kirkby’s Dowland Works project. Ben also recently performed Buxtehude cantatas at London Handel Festival, as Historicus in Carissimi Jepthe and Charpentier Reniement de St Pierre at London’s Milton Court Concert Hall, and a solo recital at Milton Court of Bruhns and Rameau cantatas and Schubert songs.
Ben’s other recent solo concert repertoire includes Bach passions (Christus and arias), Christmas Oratorio, Brahms German Requiem, Raphael and Adam in Haydn Creation, Mozart Requiem and masses, Vaughan Williams Serenade to Music at the Mondavi Center (California), and Barber Dover Beach at San Francisco’s Herbst Theatre. A particular lover of cantatas, Ben has also recently performed cantatas of Rameau, Buxtehude, Bruhns, and Schütz, as well as two dozen Bach cantatas.
On the operatic stage, Ben has sung the roles of Re di Scozia in Handel Ariodante, Zoroastro in Handel Orlando, Grand Priest of Bacchus in the North American premiere of Marais Sémélé, and Don Basilio in Paisiello Barber of Seville with West Edge Opera (California). While at Guildhall he performed in scenes from Rameau Castor et Pollux (role of Pollux), Handel Almira (Consalvo), and Bernstein Candide (Dr Pangloss) and Trouble in Tahiti (Sam).
Since 2017 Ben has also sung with the Monteverdi Choir under Sir John Eliot Gardiner, including Monteverdi L’Orfeo, Poppea, and Ulisse with English Baroque Soloists at the Salzburg Festival and Venice’s Teatro La Fenice and Monteverdi Vespers at Chappelle Royale, Versailles. With Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique he sang Berlioz Damnation of Faust at Royal Albert Hall for the BBC Proms and later joined the group for Verdi Requiem performances including Vienna Musikverein and Amsterdam Concertgebouw.