Nicholas Clapton
Nicholas Clapton (born 16 September 1955) is an English countertenor, singing-teacher and author. Life and career Clapton was born in Worcester, England and read music at Magdalen College, Oxford. He studied singing with David Mason and Diane Forlano, and made his professional debut at the Wigmore Hall in 1984. In the following year, he was a double prize-winner at the Concurso "Francisco Viñas" in Barcelona, and in 1987 won the English Song Award. Clapton is particularly known for countertenor roles in contemporary opera, the heroic castrato repertoire of the eighteenth century, and romantic art song (in partnership with the pianist Jennifer Partridge). He has performed in major opera houses and concert halls around the world, and has given over forty world premières (including six operas). Unusual events in his career have included: a Purcell concert in that composer's tercentenary year in a former Palace of Culture in Siberia; playing three different reincarnations of the great castrato Farinelli; and accompanying himself on the castanets in Simon Holt's Six Caprices. In concert and oratorio, as well as major works by Bach and Handel, Clapton's repertoire includes Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder, Elgar's Sea Pictures, Vaughan Williams' Five Mystical Songs and the [[Giuseppe Verdi|Verdi Requiem]].