Two celebrated English singers, Iestyn Davies & Olivia Chaney, unite for this one-off exploration of the voice for Kings Place’s Voices Unwrapped series.

These two unique artists present an afternoon of varied song in celebration of the voice as it presents itself, from traditional folk to the Elizabethan court, from funeral elegies to iconic pop! Expect songs from Purcell, Monteverdi, Sances, Nico Muhly, Gabriel Kahane and Olivia Chaney and some surprises too!

‘Iestyn Davies reigns supreme among countertenors.’
The Independent  

‘Chaney’s voice is a thing of sublime beauty, at times as fragile as the mist of a breath on a mirror, at others soaring in sweet glissando to the higher registers,’
Daily Telegraph 

Iestyn Davies is a British countertenor widely recognised as one of the world’s finest singers celebrated for the beauty and technical dexterity of his voice and intelligent musicianship. Critical recognition of Iestyn’s work can be seen in two Gramophone Awards, a Grammy Award, a RPS Award for Young Singer of the Year, the Critics’ Circle Award and recently an Olivier Award Nomination. He was awarded the MBE in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List 2017 for services to music.

In 2015 he delighted London theatre audiences singing the role of Farinelli in the play, Farinelli and the King with Mark Rylance at the Globe Theatre. The hugely successful project transferred to the West End this season and was nominated for a number of Olivier Awards.

His operatic engagements have included ‘Ottone’ (L’incoronazione di Poppea/Monteverdi) for Zürich Opera and Glyndebourne Festival Opera; ‘Arsace’ (Partenope/Handel) for New York City Opera; ‘Oberon’ (A Midsummer Night’s Dream/Britten) for Houston Grand Opera, English National Opera and The Metropolitan Opera, New York; ‘Apollo’ (Death in Venice/Britten) for English National Opera and in his house debut at La Scala, Milan; ‘Hamor’ (Jephtha/Handel) for Welsh National Opera and Opera National de Bordeaux; his debuts at the Opéra Comique and the Munich and Vienna Festivals in George Benjamin’s Written on Skin and the title role ‘Rinaldo’ for Glyndebourne Festival Opera. He returned to Glyndebourne in 2015 for ‘David’ in Handel’s Saul.

Recent highlights have included two Bach recitals at the Edinburgh International Festival, Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Aldeburgh Festival and Schubert’s Die Schöne Müllerin with Julius Drake at Middle Temple Hall, London.

Classically-trained singer / pianist Olivia Chaney has built a loyal and growing following as a songwriter, arranger and interpreter, both in the UK and internationally, through her acclaimed and eclectic live performances and much lauded recorded works.

Olivia self-released an eponymous EP before signing to Nonesuch Records worldwide and releasing her critically-acclaimed 2015 full-length debut, The Longest River. The latter, The Guardian hailed as ‘an enchanting and stately creation’, and was noted in a number of ‘Best Of 2015’ lists, (Uncut, Mojo, PopMatters, Chicago Reader and more).

In 2017 Olivia featured on two collaborative albums: the first – Folk Songs – with fellow Nonesuch artists; Natalie Merchant, Rhiannon Giddens, Sam Amidon and Kronos Quartet; and the second – The Queen of Hearts – by Offa Rex, an album by a new band formed between Olivia and The Decemberists, which was nominated for a Grammy at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards in the ‘’Best Folk Album’ category.

June 2018 saw the release of Olivia’s second solo album on Nonesuch – Shelter – which was produced by Thomas Bartlett (Sufjan Stevens, St.Vincent, Father John Misty, Martha Wainwright). Applauded as a sophomore triumph, media have said: ‘even the simplest arrangements seem to ooze with an inherently fluid musicality.

Olivia has collaborated and shared the stage with a diverse range of artists including Bruce Hornsby, Bryce Dessner, Robert Plant, Eliza and Martin Carthy,  Shirley Collins, The Decemberists, Patty Griffin, Kronos Quartet, Zero 7 and the Labèque Sisters.

The duration of this performance is 1 hour, no interval.