WILLIAM DUTTON

William Dutton is 12 years old, a student at St Aidan’s Church of England High School and a chorister of St Mark's Church Choir, Harrogate. In October 2006 he won the title of BBC Radio 2 Young Chorister of the Year since when he has broadcast regularly for BBC Radio 2 and 4, and was delighted to be invited to sing with José Carreras in his 2006 Royal Albert Hall Christmas concert. William made his BBC Proms debut in July this year as treble soloist in Fauré’s Requiem with the BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales conducted Thierry Fischer.

Much in demand as a soloist throughout the UK, William’s recent performances have included Handel's Messiah; Fauré’s Requiem, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Britten’s St Nicolas and Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms. Film work has included 'The Little Prince', (BBC/Sony) as first understudy to the title role and the role of ‘First Boy’ in a new production of Mozart’s ‘The Magic Flute’ directed by Kenneth Branagh and conducted by James Conlon (Idéale Audience and the Peter Moores Foundation) which is scheduled for UK release this Christmas. In April 2006, William sang the part of ‘Miles’ in Benjamin Britten’s dark opera, The Turnof the Screw for the Nationale Reisopera of Holland, alongside Philip Langridge as ‘Peter Quint’.

Future engagements include a performance of Handel’s Messiah in Leeds Town Hall with the Leeds Festival Chorus and Simon Wright; further performances of Messiah under the direction of Dr Donald Hunt with the English Symphony Orchestra in Tewkesbury and Cirencester; a charity recital in aid of Children in Crisis to be performed for the Duchess of York at Ripley Castle; an appearance with classical crossover soprano Natasha Marsh in the 2007 Christmas Presence gala concert at the Harrogate International Centre; and broadcasts on BBC TV’s Songs of Praise. William has recently been signed by Universal Classics and Jazz as a member of The Choirboys; their début album is to be released before Christmas.

William is also a violinist and studies with Raimonda Koco. He has been a member of the National Children’s Orchestra since 2003, and last year was awarded a NCO-Leverhulme Trust Scholarship in recognition of his exceptional talent. William’s other hobbies include football (he is an ardent Arsenal supporter) and wildlife. Career ambitions to date have been wonderfully diverse and range from opera singer, conductor or virtuoso violinist to dog walker or ice cream van man.