Mark Padmore

Mark Padmore studied at King's College and Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys. The recorded working language is English. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are classical music. Distinctions recorded are Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

• Name — Mark Padmore • Born — 8 March 1961 • Birthplace — London, England • Education — King's College, Cambridge • Occupation — Tenor • Spouse — Josette Simon (div. divorced) • Children — 1

He was born in London on 8 March 1961, and raised in Canterbury, Kent, England. Padmore studied clarinet and piano prior to his gaining a choral scholarship to King's College, Cambridge. He graduated in 1982 with an honours degree in music.

Padmore has appeared in Bach's St Matthew and St John Passions with the Berlin Philharmonic and Sir Simon Rattle, staged by Peter Sellars, including Berlin, Salzburg, New York and the BBC Proms. In the opera house, Padmore has worked with directors Peter Brook, Katie Mitchell, Mark Morris and Deborah Warner. He performed leading roles such as in Harrison Birtwistle's The Corridor and The Cure at the Aldeburgh Festival and in London. He appeared in Handel's Jephtha for Welsh National Opera and English National Opera, and as Captain Vere in Britten's Billy Budd. He performed as the Evangelist in a scenic version of the St Matthew Passion for the Glyndebourne Festival Opera. He also played Peter Quint in an acclaimed BBC TV production of Britten's The Turn of the Screw and recorded the title role of Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito with conductor René Jacobs for Harmonia Mundi. Padmore appeared as Third Angel/John in George Benjamin's Written on Skin with the Royal Opera House in 2017. In concert, he has performed with the world's leading orchestras including the Munich Radio, Berlin, Vienna, New York and London Philharmonic Orchestras, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Boston and London Symphony Orchestras and the Philharmonia. Padmore has given recitals worldwide. He appears frequently at Wigmore Hall, London where he first sang all three Schubert song cycles in May 2008, and was their artist in residence in the 2009/10 season.

Padmore married the actress Josette Simon (OBE); the couple had one daughter together before they divorced; in a 2020 interview, Simon refers to Padmore as a "life-long friend".