Described as having “all the makings of a star” in the Guardian and hailed as “a lyric tenor clearly going places” in Opera magazine, tenor Sam Furness has sung major roles for Scottish Opera, Garsington Opera and the Teatro Real, Madrid, always earning praise for his compelling acting and innate musicality.
In the 2022/23 season he sings Kudryas Katya Kabanova at Grand Théâtre de Genève followed by performances at National Theater Brno, Andres Wozzeck at Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and Tybalt Roméo et Juliette at Savonlinna Opera Festival. He also sings Dvořák Requiem with St Alban’s Bach Choir.
Recent operatic engagements include Kudryas Katya Kabanova (Teatro dell’Opera di Roma); Turiddu Cavalleria rusticana and Beppe Pagliacci (Åbo Svenska Teater, Turku); Pang Turandot (Grand Théâtre de Genève); Albert Gregor The Makropoulos Case (Opernhaus Zürich); White King/Mad Hatter Alice’s Adventures Under Ground (Royal Opera House, Covent Garden); Rodolphe Guillaume Tell (Theater an der Wien); Glass Maker Death in Venice (Royal Opera House, Covent Garden); Lensky Eugene Onegin (Garsington Opera, Royal Academy Opera and at the Ryedale Festival); Novice Billy Budd (Royal Opera House, Teatro Real Madrid and Teatro Municipal Santiago); Simpleton Boris Godunov (Royal Opera House); Vitek The Makropulos Case (Grand Théâtre de Genève, Vlaanderen Opera); Kavalier Cardillac (Vlaanderen Opera); title role Albert Herring (Opera di Firenze, Opera Holland Park and Théâtre du Capitôle Toulouse); Don José Carmen (Jyväskylä Opera); Tamino Die Zauberflöte (Turku Music Festival); Hoffmann Les contes d’Hoffmann (English Touring Opera); Jaquino Fidelio (Garsington Opera and Philharmonie de Paris); Peter Quint/Prologue The Turn of the Screw (Northern Ireland Opera); Števa Jenůfa (Scottish Opera); The Diary of One Who Disappeared (Shadwell Opera); and Flamand Capriccio, Baron Lummer Intermezzo, Gaspar in the world première of David Sawer’s The Skating Rink and Jack in the world première of Roxanna Panufnik’s Silver Birch (all for Garsington Opera).
On the concert platform he has recently sung Mozart’s Vesperae solennes de confessore and Mass in C Minor with Hertfordshire Chorus in St Alban’s Cathedral, Stravinsky’s Pulcinella with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
His oratorio and concert repertoire includes Mozart’s Requiem, Bach’s St Matthew Passion and St John Passion, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Handel’s Messiah and Samson, Britten’s St Nicholas and Les Illuminations, Verdi’s Requiem, and Dyson’s Canterbury Pilgrims.