Tim Mead

The British countertenor Tim Mead has won acclaim both on the operatic stage and the concert platform, and is especially celebrated for his interpretations of operatic roles by Handel and works by Bach.

In the 2025/26 season he appeared in Scarlatti’s Mitridate Eupatore at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Handel’s Athalia with the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra under Ton Koopman, Bach’s St Matthew Passion with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under Klaus Mäkelä and a Baroque matinee with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under Simon Rattle. He continued his partnerships with the Bach Collegium Japan, the RIAS Kammerchor and the Concert de la Loge, returned to the Grange Festival as Handel’s Giulio Cesare and makes his debut at the Salzburg Festival this summer with Vox Luminis.

In 2005 he made his operatic debut in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea in Lyon. Since then his appearances have included Ottone (Agrippina) at the Dutch National Opera, Goffredo (Rinaldo) at the Glyndebourne Festival, Hamor (Jephtha) at the Paris Opéra, Ruggiero (Orlando furioso) for Bayreuth Baroque, Endimione (La Calisto) at the Bavarian State Opera, Sarro’s Achille in Sciro at the Teatro Real in Madrid, Britten’s Death in Venice at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, and Cavalli’s Xerse with Le Concert d’Astrée at the MusikTheater an der Wien.

Important concert appearances have included Handel’s Messiah with the New York Philharmonic, Bach’s Mass in B minor with Les Arts Florissants, St Matthew Passion with Collegium Vocale Gent, and performances at the BBC Proms and the Hollywood Bowl, at the Wigmore Hall with the Gabrieli Consort and in Asia with The English Concert. He has also sung contemporary works such as Written on Skin with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France under the work’s composer George Benjamin, in Glass’s Akhnaten at the Opera Ballet Vlaanderen, in the world premiere of Theo Loevendie’s The Rise of Spinoza at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, and Silvia Colasanti’s Time’s Cruel Hand with The Cleveland Orchestra.

In 2023 Tim Mead released his debut solo album Sacroprofano with the Alpha Classics label. His other recordings include the albums Purcell Songs and Dances with Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien (2018), Beauteous Softness with La Nuova Musica (2023) and Handel’s Theodora with Arcangelo (2024).

Tim Mead studied at King’s College in Cambridge and at the Royal College of Music in London.