Biography

Thomas Dunford

Thomas Dunford was born in Paris in 1988, and began his lute studies aged nine with Claire Antonini. He went on to study at the Paris Conservatoire, where he won first prize in the class of Charles-Edouard Fantin, and at the Schola Cantorum in Basel with Hopkinson Smith.

From 2003 to 2005 Thomas Dunford was lutenist for the Comédie-Française’s production of Twelfth Night. Since then, he has given recitals at major venues including Carnegie Hall and the Frick Collection in New York, London’s Wigmore Hall, Washington’s Kennedy Center, Cal Performances in Berkeley, Vancouver Recital Society, Banff Centre, Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and the Vienna Konzerthaus. He has toured throughout Europe, and to the USA, South America, Israel, Japan and Australia.

Thomas Dunford’s first solo CD, Lachrimae (Alpha, 2012), was unanimously acclaimed by the critics and won the Caecilia Prize (2013). His second CD, Labirinto d’amore, was awarded a Choc by Classica, and his third, of Bach suites for lute, was awarded ‘Editor’s Choice’ by Gramophone and a Choc by Classica. He has made numerous recordings with groups including Cappella Mediterranea, La Serenissima, Ensemble Clematis, Les Arts Florissants, Arcangelo and Marsyas Baroque, among many others.

Thomas Dunford performs regularly with groups including Les Arts Florissants, Arcangelo, Cappella Mediterranea, Collegium Vocale Gent, Le Concert Spirituel, Le Concert d’Astrée, the Dunedin Consort, the English Baroque Soloists, The English Concert, L’Ensemble baroque de Limoges, the Monteverdi Choir, Les Musiciens du Louvre, Ensemble Pygmalion, La Serenissima and Les Siècles. He has worked with a wide range of soloists including Cecilia Bartoli, Nicola Benedetti, Gérard Depardieu, Sabine Devieilhe, Joyce DiDonato, Isabelle Faust, Monica Huggett, François Lazarevitch, Anne Sofie von Otter, Patricia Petibon, Sandrine Piau and Anna Prohaska. He has performed in duos with harpsichordist Jean Rondeau, mezzo-soprano Lea Desandre and countertenor Iestyn Davies.

In 2018 Thomas Dunford created Ensemble Jupiter. Their multi-award-winning debut recording of Vivaldi was released in 2019 by Alpha. Their most recent CD, a French-Italian programme of arias with Lea Desandre, was released in 2021. The ensemble regularly tours to leading concert halls in Europe and the United States.

Thomas Dunford’s engagements in 2021/22 have included a tour of the United States with Ensemble Jupiter, performances at Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, at the Oji Hall in Tokyo and at the Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona, and a Wigmore Hall duo recital with Jean Rondeau.

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Current as of August 2022

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Thomas Dunford Lautenist
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Thomas Dunford Lautenist
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Thomas Dunford Lautenist
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