Neil Balfour

Indian-Scottish Neil Balfour is a graduate of the Royal Northern College of Music and the National Opera Studio. A former Britten Pears and Concordia artist, he has performed at the Glastonbury Festival and was the first  to beatbox in an opera at Longborough Festival Opera.

Most notable in the current season is the world premiere, at the Oxford International Song Festival, of Untold Lives (a new song cycle about Indian Soldiers in WWI) by Cheryl Frances-Hoad. Other performances include Tom Rotherham Opera (Royal Ballet & Opera, Grimm & Co, Rotherham Music Service); and A Luddite Prophecy (Bradford Opera Festival).

With a particular interest in contemporary music, recent highlights include his American debut as Father in Kamala Sankaram’s opera, Thumbprint (Portland Opera); Safin The Shoemaker (Welsh National Opera); Guillermo Kahlo Frida (Northern Opera Group); Navin The End of the World Party (Hull Urban Opera); King Hrothgar Beowulf (Proper Job Theatre); and Jacob Displaced (Coalign/Tête-à-Tête).

Other contemporary roles and world premieres include Jean Arp Sophie (Tête à Tête); Ibn Al-Haytham Al-Haytham’s Light and Texy/Everywhere Back into the World (English Touring Opera); Punch Crocodile (Hull Urban Opera); Father Mysterious 44 (the first electronic opera); and Dad/La-La A Shoe Full of Stars (YAM Awards Best Opera 2018).

He has also performed Prince Yamadori Madam Butterfly (Welsh National Opera); Bartley Riders to the Sea for OperaUpclose; Colline La bohème (Mananan Opera, OFMAN Madrid Opera Studio); Mercurio La Calisto (Longborough Festival Opera), Don Alfonso Così fan tutte, Quince A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Lord Ellington La vie Parisienne (RNCM); Dottore Grenvil La traviata (Devon Opera); Cold Genius King Arthur (Glastonbury Festival); and Mustafà L’italiana in Algeri, Don Pasquale Don Pasquale (Mananan Opera).

Concert performances have included Gershwin Porgy & Bess (Leeds Philharmonic Orchestra) and Paul Rissmann’s Alice in Wonderland Suites (London Symphony Orchestra). He has performed song recitals for Leeds Lieder, &Piano, Britten Pears Arts, Thaxted Festival, and the Leeds Opera Festival. For the Oxford International Song Festival he has performed recitals of Schumann, Sondheim, and a programme paired with perfumes.

Neil is an sE Artist (world-class microphones) and is proud to be supported by Penhaligon’s British Perfumers, VivoBarefoot shoes, Mason Cycles, Hunt Wheels and Tailfin Bikepacking equipment for his endeavours to travel more sustainably. His work as a voiceover artist has had over 100 million plays.