Richard Eteson - Biography

Richard started singing as a choirboy in Bingley, West Yorkshire, and went on to become Head Chorister at King’s College, Cambridge, later returning there as a tenor Choral Scholar (studying Japanese and English) under the direction of Sir Stephen Cleobury. 

Whilst being a Chorister at King’s he sang the famous Once in Royal David’s City opening verse solo for the TV carol service in 1987 and for the live BBC Radio broadcast in 1988. That year he provided the treble Pie Jesu solo for the EMI Faure/Durufle Requiem CD alongside Olaf Bär and Ann Murray, and sang the treble solos in Britten’s St. Nicholas alongside Robert Tear at Snape Maltings. 

As a Choral Scholar, he sang the tenor solo in Darke’s In the Bleak Midwinter at the broadcast carol service, the cantor solos on the EMI Rachmaninov Vespers and Credo CDs and made his concert tenor solo debut at the Sydney Opera House in 1998 in Haydn’s Nelson Mass. 

After graduating, Richard became a Choirman of The Temple Church, London under Stephen Layton and began to sing with many of London’s finest choirs, consort groups and session choirs as a freelance tenor in concerts and recordings (Westminster Cathedral, St. Margaret’s Westminster, St. Bride’s Fleet Street, St. Bart’s Smithfield, Southwark Cathedral, St. George’s Chapel Windsor, The Gabrieli Consort, Tenebrae, Polyphony, The Cambridge Scholars, Magnificat, Tonus Peregrinus, The Brabant Ensemble, The Eric Whitacre Singers, Heritage Voices, The Philharmonia Voices and London Voices). 

Between 2000-2010 he sang high tenor with The Swingles, travelling the world, recording 8 albums and performing in many of the world’s leading venues such as La Scala, Milan; The Concertgebouw, Amsterdam; Suntory Hall, Tokyo; the Esplanade Centre, Singapore; and the Parco della Musica, Rome. In 2010 he founded the London A Cappella Festival. 

As a tenor oratorio soloist in the UK Richard has given performances of Haydn’s Creation, Bach’s B Minor Mass, Handel’s Messiah, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Britten’s St. Nicholas, Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius, Stainer’s Crucifiction and performed the Evangelist part in Bach’s St. John Passion and St. Matthew Passion. 

In the world of contemporary music Richard has given over 50 performances of Berio’s Sinfonia. He has also performed Berio’s a cappella work a ronne & 3 operas by Azio Corghi, and chorus and solo tenor parts in the world premiere of Stockhausen’s opera Mittwoch aus Licht with London Voices/Birmingham Opera Company under Graham Vick as part of the London 2012 festival. 

In 2019 he gave a critically-acclaimed performance of Stockhausen’s Stimmung at The Southbank with London Voices. 

The many varied projects he has been involved in have seen him work with artists such as Luciano Berio, Zubin Mehta, Jarvis Cocker, Scott Walker, Hans Zimmer, Florence and the Machine, Aphex Twin, Anna Calvi and Goldie. He has made over 50 CD recordings and sung on numerous blockbuster movie soundtracks, flashmobs & TV adverts.