Music in Dumfries presents: Nicky Spence & Dylan Perez
About the event
Nicky Spence – TENOR
Hailed by the Daily Telegraph as ‘a voice of real distinction’, Nicky Spence’s unique skills as a singing actor and the rare honesty of his musicianship have earned him a place at the top of the classical music profession. The BBC Music Magazine named him ‘Personality of the Year’ in 2022, he was made an OBE in the 2023 King’s Birthday Honours, and in 2024 was the winner of the RPS Singer Award.
Nicky begins his 2026/27 season as soloist at the world renowned BBC ‘Last Night of the Proms’ at the Royal Albert Hall. He returns to the Royal Ballet and Opera as Tichon Kat’a Kabanova, to Staatsoper Hamburg as Finn/Bayan Ruslan i Ludmila, and to the Brno Janáček Festival as Ctirado Šárka, Laca Jenůfa and the title role in The Excursions of Mr. Brouček to the Moon and to the 15th Century. He makes his debut at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona as Loge Das Rheingold and Edmundo de Nobile The Exterminating Angel, as well as at Deutsche Oper Berlin, as tenor soloist in their War Requiem. On the concert stage, he performs The Dream of Gerontius with Bergen Philharmonic and Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, as well as Laca Jenůfa with Bamberger Symphoniker.
Other recent engagements include Finn/Bayan Ruslan i Ludmila at Staatsoper Hamburg, Co-Ed 2, Algorithm 3, Neighbor, Death in Philadelphia Opera’s world premiere of Complications in Sue, Arjuna Satyagraha at Opéra National de Paris, Laca Jenůfa for the Royal Ballet and Opera, Florestan Fidelio for Maifestspiele Wiesbaden, Boris Kat’a Kabanova for the Glyndebourne Festival and a debut as the title role in Peter Grimes for Welsh National Opera. Recent concert performances include Hauptmann/Narr Wozzeck and The Dream of Gerontius with Bayerischer Rundfunk and Simon Rattle, Bobby Riggs in Laura Karpman’s opera Balls with London Philharmonia, Siegmund in the first act of Die Walküre with Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España. Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Hallé Orchestra and Kahchun Wong, Torquemada in L’heure espagnole with Orquestra Sinfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya and Sergei Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District at the BBC Proms.
Noted in particular for interpretation of Janáček’s music, Nicky has appeared worldwide in his operas, being awarded the Leoš Janáček Memorial Medal at the Janáček Brno Festival in 2024, for his contribution to the performance and promotion of Janáček’s works on the international opera and concert stages. Other operatic roles include Siegmund The Valkyrie for the English National Opera, Loge Das Rheingold at La Monnaie, Edmundo, Marquès de Nobile in Adès’ The Exterminating Angel for the Opéra national de Paris.
Nicky gives recitals internationally, and has curated a residency at Wigmore Hall. His extensive discography includes Strauss Lieder with Roger Vignoles (Hyperion), Brahms’ Liebeslieder-Walzer with Joseph Middleton and Dylan Perez (Resonus Classics) and the title role in La Clemenza di Tito (Alpha). In 2020, he won the BBC Music Magazine Vocal Award and Gramophone’s Solo Vocal Award for his critically acclaimed recording of Janáček’s The Diary of One Who Disappeared
Dylan Perez – ACCOMPANIST
Described as “sublime and completely intuitive” (The Sunday Times), pianist Dylan Perez is a recitalist, chamber musician and coach specialising in vocal repertoire who is highly in demand across the UK. His recent and upcoming appearances include Wigmore Hall, Milton Court, Cadogan Hall, the Birmingham Conservatoire of Music, La Monnaie and the Copenhagen Opera Festival. Artists with whom he collaborates regularly include sopranos Mary Bevan and Soraya Mafi, mezzo-sopranos Jess Dandy, Ema Nikolovska and Kitty Whately and bass William Thomas. He enjoys a particularly fruitful performing relationship with his husband, renowned Scottish tenor Nicky Spence.
Dylan is the founder of re-sung, a London based song recital series that focuses on the connection between text and music, with special interest on creating new interpretations of masterworks and championing contemporary songs. In collaboration with Julien Van Mellaerts, he curates Opera in Song for Opera Holland Park – a song recital series that illuminates the operas, characters, and composers appearing during the summer season.
Dylan’s awards include the Gerald Moore Prize for accompanists, the Paul Hamburger Prize for Accompaniment and the Accompanist’s Prize at the Bampton Young Singers Competition. He has participated in many international competitions including the Kathleen Ferrier Awards, the Wigmore Hall/Bollinger International Song Competition and the Das Lied International Song Competition. He has been a Britten-Pears Young Artist, an Oxford Lieder Festival Young Artist and he is an alumnus of the Franz-Schubert-Institut in Baden bei Wien. He is also a laureate of the Académie Royaumont in association with the Musée d’Orsay, Paris.
Coaching and teaching has become a vital part of Dylan’s musical life. He was recently appointed as a Vocal Coach on faculty at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, as well as being a guest coach at the Royal Academy of Music. Previously, he was on faculty at Trinity Laban Conservatoire. He has lead song projects at RBC, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and the Royal College of Music.
Dylan has recently recorded the complete songs of Samuel Barber for Resonus, which has been critically received including “Recording of the Month” BBC Music Magazine and five stars in the Sunday Times. Future recording plans include songs by Rorem, Caplet, Schubert, and Errollyn Wallen.
Date
Saturday 22nd May 2027
Time
7:30pm
Location
TBC
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