Pelham Andrews
Bass Pelham Andrews trained in Australia, the UK and Germany, and is a graduate of the Cardiff International Academy of Voice and the Adelaide University. A former Young Artist of State Opera South Australia, Pelham has performed extensively with that company in the roles of Padre Guardiano (La forza del Destino), Colline (La Bohème), Nourabad (Les Pêcheurs de Perles), Lodovico (Otello), Zuniga (Carmen), Friedrich Bhaer (the Australian premiere of Mark Adamo’s Little Women), Count Ribbing (Un Ballo in Maschera), Jake Wallace (La Fanciulla del West), Count Ceprano (Rigoletto), the Stationmaster (Blake’s The Station), and the Mandarin (Turandot).
This year Pelham will return to Adelaide Festival as bass soloist in the world premiere performances of Watershed, and to State Opera for Colline (La Bohème), Judd/Mr. Bonner (Voss), and Baron Douphol (La Traviata). His engagements on the concert platform will include Mozart Requiem with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and Don Fernando (Fidelio) with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Chief Conductor Simone Young.
Most recently Pelham was engaged by State Opera South Australia, to sing the role of Basilio (The Barber of Seville), by Adelaide Festival for Snug (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) and as the bass soloist in A Child of our Time (Tippett), and by Melbourne Symphony Orchestra for Messiah. He’s also been heard as the Parson and Badger (The Cunning Little Vixen), Ben (Madeline Lee), The Bonze and the Imperial Commissioner (Madama Butterfly) the title role of The Mikado, Betto di Signa (Gianni Schicchi) and Tio Salvador (La Vida Breve), Pogner, (as well as covering Hans Sachs), in Act III of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Lester Lamb in the world premiere of George Palmer’s Cloudstreet, and Sciarrone, (Tosca) all for State Opera South Australia, as well as Count Capulet in Romeo and Juliet in concert for the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Geronte in Manon Lescaut, the King in Aida and Commendatore in Don Giovanni for Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra and with the Adelaide Collective in Grandage’s Towards First Light.
Pelham has also sung Méphistophélès (La Damnation de Faust) and the King of Bambaras (Angelique) for Victorian Opera, and for Opera Australia he has appeared as Farfarello (covering The King of Clubs) in The Love for Three Oranges, and as Sparafucile and Monterone (Rigoletto), Lodovico (Otello), Zoroastro (Orlando), Baron Douphol (La Traviata), Speaker (The Magic Flute), Second Mate (Billy Budd), Flemish Deputy (Don Carlos) and Timur (Turandot), as well as covering King (Aida), Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) and Masetto (Don Giovanni). He has also performed throughout Australia, Malaysia and Singapore with touring company Co-Opera, and won several awards including the McDonalds Operatic Aria.
As a concert soloist, Pelham has performed with the Adelaide, Melbourne and Queensland Symphony Orchestras, Orchestra Victoria, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, Australian Intervarsity Choral Festival, Melbourne Bach Choir, Auckland Choral Society, Napier Civic Choir and Manukau Symphony, as well as many smaller ensembles. His repertoire includes the Requiems of Mozart, Fauré and Verdi, Haydn Creation, Handel Messiah, Beethoven Symphony No 9, Mozart and Beethoven Masses, and Cantatas by Bach. He is also an accomplished and passionate interpreter of song repertoire.