Richard Dowling

Richard has recently been offered a place on the postgraduate vocal studies course at the Royal Academy of Music. He will begin studying there in September 2011 on a full scholarship. He is currently in the process of completing his PhD in the field of crystallization at Manchester University having studied Chemical Engineering at the same institution.

Richard has a keen interest in English song, particularly the music of Benjamin Britten, having performed Britten’s “Serenade” with Chetham’s School of Music string orchestra and a recital including Britten’s Canticles 1 and 2. He has also made a recording consisting of Vaughan Williams’ “Wenlock Edge”, a selection of Quilter’s songs, and a new song cycle “The Bliss of Solitude” by Andrew Wright, which is available on the Herald label. Other solo work includes Monteverdi’s Vespers, Rossini’s “Petit Messe Solemnelle”, Haydn’s “Creation”, Mendelssohn’s “Elijah” and “St Paul”, Bach’s “Magnificat” and “St John Passion”, Handel’s “Messiah” and “Ode for St. Cecilia's Day”, Stravinsky’s “Cantata” and Mozart’s “Requiem”

Richard also has experience of singing in many choirs and ensembles. He is a Lay Clerk at Manchester Cathedral and in this capacity he has performed in many concerts and radio broadcasts and sung for a Naxos recording of Parry’s choral works. Richard is also a member of the BBC Daily Service Singers. While an undergraduate in Manchester, Richard also sang in the Chorus of the Royal Northern College of Music’s production of “The Rake’s Progress” by Stravinsky, was a long standing member of the university chamber choir and sang in several close harmony, a cappella groups.