John Mark Ainsley began his musical training in Oxford and continues to study with Diane Forlano. His extensive international concert work includes the Boston Symphony under Seiji Ozawa, Vienna Philharmonic under Sir Roger Norrington, Trevor Pinnock and Franz Welser-Möst, London Symphony under Sir Colin Davis and Andre Prévin, Berlin Philharmonic under Bernard Haitink and Sir Simon Rattle and the New York Philharmonic under Kurt Masur. A highly gifted performer on the opera stage, he was awarded the Munich Festival Prize for his performance as Orfeo, a role that he has reprised at the Netherlands Opera, La Monnaie in Brussels and at English National Opera to great acclaim. He created the role of Der Daemon in the world premiere of Hans Werner Henze’s L’Upupa for the Salzburg Festival and also sang the world premiere of Henze’s Phaedra in Berlin and Brussels. He recently made his role debut as Captain Vere in Billy Budd in Frankfurt. In 2010 he makes his debut at La Scala Milan in From the House of the Dead and returns to the Glyndebourne Festival for Billy Budd. John Mark Ainsley won the 2007 Royal Philharmonic Society Singer Award.