Giles Tomkins, Bass Baritone

Pacific Opera Victoria
Dr. Grenvil in La traviata
October, 2009

Canadian-British bass baritone Giles Tomkins is participating in Pacific Opera Victoria's Fall 2009 Resident Artist Program and will make his POV mainstage debut in October 2009 as Dr. Grenvil in La traviata.

Giles Tomkins is fast becoming one of Canada's leading young artists, widely recognized for his vocal virtuosity and lyricism. His voice has been described as “sweet but manly” complete with “lovely phrasing and beautiful placement” (Paula Citron, Opera Canada Magazine).

In Canada, he has performed with the Canadian Opera Company, the Aldeburgh Connection, Opera In Concert, Chorus Niagara, Tapestry New Opera Works, the St. Lawrence String Quartet, and the Canadian Brass. His performances in the United Kingdom include numerous concerts at the Aldeburgh Festival, including Purcell's King Arthur conducted by Laurence Cummings, a touring production of Puccini's La Bohème (Colline), with Scottish Opera, and in 2006, the European première of The Midnight Court at the Linbury Theatre of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

Since graduating from the University of Toronto's Opera Division in 2005, Mr. Tomkins' operatic roles have included Don Alfonso in Mozart's Così Fan Tutte, conducted by Maestro James Levine (Tanglewood Music Centre), Don Basilio in Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Scottish Opera), directed by Sir Thomas Allen, and Superintendent Budd in Britten's Albert Herring (Britten Festival, Aldeburgh). Other engagements include Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro (Banff Centre for the Arts), Pish-Tush in Gilbert & Sullivan's The Mikado (Toronto Operetta Theatre), and Somnus in Handel's Semele (Opera In Concert).

Concert work includes several Bach Cantatas, conducted by Helmuth Rilling, as part of the University of Toronto's Bach Festival, Pilatus in Bach's St. John Passion, with the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, conducted by Noel Edison, and Handel's Messiah, with Chorus Niagara, conducted by Robert Cooper. Giles Tomkins has appeared on five international Naxos recordings with the Aradia Ensemble, including major roles in Rameau's Castor et Pollux, Handel's Rinaldo, and the just released Griselda by Vivaldi. He has frequently been featured on CBC Radio, Classical 96 FM, Bravo! Television, and BBC Radio 3 in the UK.

He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Distinguished Graduate Award from the University of Toronto's Opera Division, the John Scott Award for career development from Scottish Opera, and he was a finalist in the International Vocal Competition in Marmande, France.

Operatic roles in 2008 included a return to Scottish Opera as Pistola in Verdi's Falstaff and in September, Giles made his debut with Ottawa's Opera Lyra as Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro. In February, 2009, this Distinguished Graduate from University of Toronto's Opera Division sang the role of Pedro in the world premiere of James Rolfe's highly-anticipated opera Inês, and appeared in Purcell's King Arthur with Toronto Masque Theatre.

On the concert stage, highlights of 2008/9 for Mr. Tomkins included "Parnassus on Elm Street" with the Aldeburgh Connection, Beethoven's Mass in C with the Guelph Chamber Choir and Messiah with Toronto's Classical Music Consort. Giles made his Saskatoon Opera debut as Colline in their June 2009 production of La Bohème.

Tomkins demonstrates an unfailing sensitivity to phrasing essential to the idiom ... he evinces a Fischer-Dieskau-like purity of tone ...
Robert Franner, Opus Magazine

...a first class recording of highly charged and melody-rich music played with great style and originality by Mallon's forces... Giles Tomkins's expressive bass seems ideally suited to this repertoire for the words are always clear and amply endowed with meaning..
Mark Sealey, Music Web International (www.musicweb-international.com)

July, 2009