Iain Bell’s love affair with the voice is evidenced by his prolific output of vocal works, earning him the attention of many of the greatest singers of our generation (including Diana Damrau, Nathan Gunn and Jamie Barton)who have performed his music at venues including Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall and the Munich Opera Festival. 2019 saw the premiere of two new operas. The first, ‘Jack the Ripper: the Women of Whitechapel' opened at English National Opera with a cast including Josephine Barstow, Susan Bullock, Lesley Garrett, Marie McLaughlin, Natalya Romaniw, Janis Kelly and Alan Opie. This was followed by 'Stonewall' at New York City Opera - commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising. 'Stonewall' went on to be shortlisted as one of the best new operas of 2019 at the Annual Excellence in Opera Awards and was cited as one of WQXR's best classical concerts of 2019.
Highlights in early-2020 include the UK-premiere of 'Much To Be Done' (the choral finale from 'Stonewall') by The Pink Singers at Cadogan Hall along with the first UK-outing of Bell's second Concert Ayre 'Tom O'Bedlam' with baritone James Cleverton. The year ends with the world premiere of two song cycles for voice and piano. The first 'We Two' - a setting of Walt Whitman poetry for bass-baritone - will be performed at the Mozarteum in Salzburg by Douglas Williams and pianist Levi Hammer. The second 'The Man With Night Sweats' - a cycle of Thom Gunn's poetry from his eponymous collection - will be performed by baritone Jarrett Ott and pianist Nigel Foster at the London Song Festival. Further ahead sees the first revival of 'Jack the Ripper: the Women of Whitechapel' at Opera North with a subsequent UK tour.