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  • Comment: Sources must correctly verify statements. For example, the source used for the statement "He is widely respected for his voice, the versatility of his repertoire, and his stagecraft" makes no such claims. See also WP:COI. Greenman (talk) 08:59, 11 September 2022 (UTC)

Alexander Grove
Grove in Sweden's Melodifestivalen 2022 SVT
Born1978
London
NationalityEnglish
Alma materRoyal Northern College of Music
Occupation(s)Singer (Tenor), Producer
Years active1996-present
Known forTENORI

Alexander Grove (born 03 February 1978) is an English opera singer (spinto-tenor) and producer. Born in London, he bases his career between the UK and Sweden. He is widely respected for his voice, the versatility of his repertoire, and his stagecraft..[1] He is also a member of the tenor group TENORI[2] that appeared on SVT Sweden's Eurovision run-up Melodifestivalen in 2022 with the song "La Stella".[3] Grove is signed to Universal Music Sweden.

Early years

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Alexander Grove was born in London. At 8 years old, he won a place as a chorister at St Paul's Cathedral under organists and choirmasters John Scott and Christopher Dearnley. He studied the oboe, piano and theatre skills and was trained intensively as a Treble. His young solo career included performing at Mansion House, London for the Lord Mayor of London; singing with the Muppets for creator Jim Henson’s memorial service[4]; performing Fauré’s Requiem with José Carreras and Sir Georg Solti at the Royal Festival Hall, London; a private concert for President George H W Bush at the White House, Washington; performing for Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother’s 90th Birthday at Horse Guards Parade,[5] London and singing with Harry Secombe on “Highway” (ITV) and performing at Goldsmiths Hall amongst various international tours and recordings on the Hyperion record label.[6]

When his voice broke, Grove continued to develop his skills at Bishop’s Stortford College and began studying as a tenor. His vocal tutors included Susan Waters, Ben Parry (Swingle Singers) and David Porter-Thomas (Kings Singers). Grove was accepted as a choral scholar to Kings College, Cambridge, but instead took a place at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester studying with English artists, tenor Anthony Roden and bass Colin Iveson. Grove studied further at the Ferrandou Vocal School in France with baritone David Wilson Johnson; at the Georg Solti Accademia di Bel Canto in Italy[7] with Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Frederica von Stade and Corradina Caporello (Julliard) and studied privately in Switzerland with Nicolai Gedda as well as in Italy with Susanna Rigacci and in Sweden with tenor Sten Sjöstedt. He has performed in public masterclasses with prominent artists including, Rafael Rojas, Joseph Ward, Sir Thomas Allen, Robin Stapleton, Francesca Patané, Nigel Douglas, Anna Sweeney, Anthony Legge, Paul Whelan, Anne Howells, Geoffrey Shovelton, Martin Isepp, Jean Mallandaine, Jim Holmes (Opera North), Paul Griffiths (Royal Opera, London), Chris Squires, Adele Leigh, John Cameron, David Lloyd-Jones and Bruno Rigacci amongst others.

Awards

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In 2010, Grove became the male winner of the BBC Kiri Prize[8] held by Dame Kiri Te Kanawa in London[9] with the BBC Concert Orchestra live on BBC Radio 2[10] and televised for BBC’s Last Night of the Proms.[11] Other competition wins include the Anne Ziegler Competition and 2nd prize in the Frederic Cox Award.

Concert

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On the oratorio and concert platforms Grove's performed repertoire includes many of the major works and he has been giving concerts consistently both at home and on tour for over 20 years. Notable venues in the UK include the Queen Elisabeth Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Royal Albert Hall, Royal Hall Harrogate, the Bridgewater Hall, Cadogan Hall and Carnegie Hall with orchestras including the Hallé Orchestra, Orion Symphony Orchestra, Northern Sinfonia, London Philharmonic Orchestra and the BBC Concert Orchestra.

Works include the tenor cantata Rinaldo (Brahms) with the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra and the Orphei Dränger male chorus in Sweden; Beethoven 9th Symphony, the Messiah and the world premiere of A Song for St Stephen (John Joubert) under Simon Halsey and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra at Birmingham Symphony Hall; L’Enfant du Christ under Kent Negano at the Bridgewater Hall; Viennese Operetta at The Sage under Wyn Davies and the Northern Sinfonia; Rossini Petite Messe Solenelle under David Lloyd-Jones. Other notable projects include a Britten recital in Aldeburgh in collaboration with Benjamin Britten’s librettist, Eric Crozier.

In Sweden Grove has performed at Malmö Concert Hall, Spira[12], Växjö Concert Hall[13], Helsingborg Concert Hall, Berwaldhallen,[14] Stora Teatern [15] and the Gothenburg Concert Hall[16] amongst others.

In 2006 and 2007, Grove toured the UK and Ireland including the MEN Arena, National Indoor Arena Birmingham, O2 Millennium Dome, Royal Albert Hall, The Point in Dublin and the Odyssey Arena, Belfast to audiences exceeding 250,000 a week in the largest children's choir concerts in the world[17][18][19][20][21] with artists including Beverley Knight, Lee Ryan (Blue), Alexandra Burke, Sabrina Washington and beatboxer, Beardyman. Grove also performed with violinist Vanessa Mae linked by satellite. In the football world, Grove has performed for Manchester United and Bury Football Clubs. In 2009 Manchester United invited Grove to sing at the UEFA Champions League Final in Rome.

Stage

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Grove has a broad repertoire and to date has performed over 65 professional roles across a range of repertoire. He has taken roles on stages including the Gothenburg Opera, Royal Opera London, Scottish Opera, Opera På Skäret, Den Jyske Opera, Malmö Opera, Lucerne Festival, Manaus Opera House. Amongst others, he has been a soloist under the batons of Sir Georg Solti, Kent Negano, Sir Edward Downes, Sir David Wilcocks, Per Giorgio Morandi, Edward Gardner, Noel Davies, Tobias Ringborg and Daniel Harding. Opera Magazine hailed his professional debut in 2003 as Peter Quint in Britten’s Turn of the Screw as a “triumph”[22]. Notable roles and projects include Don José for Malmö Opera[23], the Son/Tenor 1 in Weill’s Die Sieben Todsünden under David Radok at the Gothenburg Opera[24][25][26][27], Armed Man / Priest in The Magic Flute under Daniel Harding at the Lucerne Festival, Switzerland[28][29]; Don Ramiro under the baton of Per Giorgio Morandi with the Finnish National Opera; Magnus Gabriele de la Gardie in Foroni’s Cristina Regina di Svezia at the Vadstena Opera Festival under Tobias Ringborg; Don Ramiro, La Cenerentola for Malmö Opera under Brad Cohen; his Count Danilo in Lehar’s The Merry Widow for Scottish Opera was described as “the Danilo of one’s dreams” (Opera Magazine)[30]. Other roles include Le Nos, Pytor and Yarishkin in Le Nos (Shostakovich) at the Royal Opera House, London; Trio, Trouble In Tahiti (Bernstein) and Charlie, Mahagonny Songspiel (Weill) directed by John Fulljames; Pierrot, Der Kaiser von Atlantis (Ullmann) under Edward Gardner and the Hallé Orchestra and Lupo with the composer Hans Werner Henze as conductor on his children’s opera Pollicino. Other roles include Bajazet, Tamerlano; Hippolyte Hippolyte et Aricie (Lully) and Telemachus Il Ritorno d’UIisse in Patria (Monteverdi); Pedrillo Il Seraglio for Scottish Opera; Count von Zedlau Wiener Blut and Eisenstein, Die Fledermaus for Clonter Opera; Chinese Man The Fairy Queen (Purcell) for Armonico Touring Opera; Dottore The Jewel Box (Mozart) for Bampton Classical Opera at St John's Smith Square, London; Fenton Die Lustige Weiber von Windsor (Nicolai); Mercury Orpheus in the Underworld (Offenbach); Ben The Telephone (Menotti) for Ludlow Opera; Rapunzel’s Prince Into The Woods (Sondheim), Chekalinsky The Queen of Spades (Tchaikovsky), Oronte Alcina (Handel), Egisto L’Egisto and La Théière L’Enfant et les Sortilèges, Ravel.

Grove has created 10 roles in world premiere British operas with renowned British composers, librettists, poets and novelists. For Scottish Opera: the title role in Gesualdo (Ian Rankin + Craig Armstrong); the title role in Dream Angus with novelist Alexander McCall Smith; the role of Steve in Money Man (Lyell Creswell + Ron Butlin); the Ghost 74 Degrees North (Paul Mealor + Peter Stollery); Vitya, The Letter (Bernard Maclaverty+ V Khodosh). For The Opera Group the roles of: Suit, Walking Not Driving (Tim Coker); Dean, Anything Money Can Buy (Laura Bowler); Wilson Out of the Ordinary (David Bruce); For Yorke Trust Opera: Lord Nelson, The Sailor’s Tale (Rupert Bawden) which was also recorded on the NMC Record Label. For Unicorn Theatre: Karl / Prince Florian Clockwork (Stephen McNeff + Philip Pullman) and Busqueda (Mark Anthony Turnage).

Grove has been a permanent member of the Gothenburg Opera since 2016[31]. He has also received public recognition for his operetta roles performing regularly alongside Swedish musical personality Rikard Söderberg[32] at Ystad Theatre, Sweden.

TENORI

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In 2004 Grove founded TENORI[33] with tenors Jon Cristos and John Marsden[34] - a 3 Tenors "popera" group that grew to tour and perform internationally featuring the best young tenors from the UK and abroad.[35][36] Tenori recently rose to prominence in Sweden[37] as a duo competing in the country's largest televised singing competition, Melodifestivalen[38][39][40][41][42][43] with their song "La Stella"[44] written by Bobby Ljunggren and Dan Sundquist amongst others.

Recordings and Televsion

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Recording credits include the world premiere of Rupert Bawden’s "The Sailor’s Tale" on the NMC record label[45] in which he created the role of Lord Nelson; a world premiere for Independent Ballet Wales of Turner’s Bride of Flowers and the soundtrack of James Horner, Stephen Spielberg and George Lucas’s animated movie The Land Before Time. Notable studios include Abbey Road Studios, London.

Alexander has been heard live in Sunday Night is Music Night on BBC Radio 2 with the BBC Concert Orchestra at the Hackney Empire, London in "A Tribute to Mario Lanza" and "A look back to the good 'ol days"[46]. In Sweden he has been heard on SVT television[47][48] and on Sveriges Radio P4[49][50]

As an actor Grove has been featured in various UK television series for Granada Television and Yorkshire Television including Clocking Off, Brookside, Coronation Street, Hollyoaks, At Home With The Braithwaites, Emmerdale[51] and North Square. Grove has also appeared on the operatic spoof “Anarchy in the UK” for Kombat Opera. In 2010 Grove was invited by Channel 4 Television to appear alongside Peter Stringfellow and Lee Ryan in “Celebrity Come Dine with Me”.[52] The episode has since gone viral due to Stringfellow's sink collapsing during filming.[53]

Honours

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References

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  1. ^ "Alexander Grove, Tenor | reviews". Operabase. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  2. ^ "Last Brit Standing: Alexander Grove and his quest for Melfest". The Local Sweden. 2022-02-26. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  3. ^ "La Stella - Mellopedia". mellopedia.svt.se. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  4. ^ "Jim Henson's Memorial". Muppet Wiki. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  5. ^ Queen Mothers 90th Birthday Parade, retrieved 2022-07-14
  6. ^ "St Paul's Cathedral Choir on Hyperion Records". Hyperion Records. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  7. ^ "The Solti Te Kanawa Accademia: opera's future starts here". www.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  8. ^ "BBC Radio 2 - Sunday Night is Music Night, The Kiri Prize Highlights Show". BBC. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  9. ^ "BBC - Press Office - Radio 2 Kiri Prize – fifth finalist announced". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  10. ^ BBC. "BBC - Radio 2 - The Kiri Prize". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  11. ^ "Dame Kiri 'not interested' in Susan Boyle's success". NZ Herald. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  12. ^ "Alexander Grove". Smålands Musik & Teater (in Swedish). Retrieved 2022-07-15.
  13. ^ "TENORI - från West End till Växjö och Halmstad". Mynewsdesk (in Swedish). Retrieved 2022-07-15.
  14. ^ "Författaren Björn Ranelid och Daniel Lindström, vinnare av Idol 2004, deltar i Frälsningsarméns Julkonsert i Stockholm". Mynewsdesk (in Swedish). Retrieved 2022-07-15.
  15. ^ "TENORI - "från West End till Göteborg"". Mynewsdesk (in Swedish). Retrieved 2022-07-15.
  16. ^ "Vägus vinterturné: Beethoven och ännu mera Beethoven". press.newsmachine.com. Retrieved 2022-07-15.
  17. ^ "The largest School Choir in the World". Young Voices. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  18. ^ News, Manchester Evening (2007-11-30). "The scariest gig of our lives". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 2022-07-14. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  19. ^ Live, by Cheshire; Updated (2007-12-19). "Pupils join stars of Young Voices musical spectacular". CheshireLive. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  20. ^ YorkshireLive (2007-11-28). "Children sing with stars". YorkshireLive. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  21. ^ "Young Voices prepare for Arena show". The Bolton News. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  22. ^ "Alexander Grove, Tenor | Biografi | Operabasе". Operabase (in Swedish). Retrieved 2022-07-15.
  23. ^ "Carmen på flaket – solisterna är behållningen". Skånska Dagbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  24. ^ "Snyggt men svagt om synd och skam". www.aftonbladet.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  25. ^ Haglund, Magnus (2017-10-22). "Opera som tvingar publiken att tänka till". gp.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  26. ^ "LARS SJÖBERG: Det sinnessvagaste vi upplevt på den här sidan av Martin Ljung". www.expressen.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  27. ^ Löfvendahl, Bo (2017-10-22). "Njutningsfull svart humor på Göteborgsoperan". Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). ISSN 1101-2412. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  28. ^ www.mir.de, MIR MEDIA-Digital Agency-. "Alexander Grove". www.lucernefestival.ch. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  29. ^ "LUCERNE FESTIVAL 2011: DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE / LA FLÛTE ENCHANTÉE le 21 août (Dir.mus: Daniel HARDING) – Le blog du Wanderer" (in French). Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  30. ^ "Opera review: The Merry Widow". The Guardian. 2008-09-05. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  31. ^ "Operasångaren Alexander Grove: "Jag hade ingen aning om vad Mello var"". Leva & bo (in Swedish). Retrieved 2022-07-15.
  32. ^ "Karnevalisk Askungen charmar till sist". DN.SE (in Swedish). 2022-07-02. Retrieved 2022-07-15.
  33. ^ "TENORI - Official Website". TENORI - Official Website. Retrieved 2022-07-15.
  34. ^ "Opera trio ready to raise the roof for charity". The Bolton News. Retrieved 2022-07-15.
  35. ^ "Three tenors for Gozo's Notte". Times of Malta. Retrieved 2022-07-15.
  36. ^ [httpss://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2007-05-12/local-news/The-UK%E2%80%99s-Favourite-three-tenors-173250 "The UK's Favourite three tenors - The Malta Independent"]. www.independent.com.mt. Retrieved 2022-07-15.
  37. ^ "Tenori", Wikipedia (in Swedish), 2022-07-14, retrieved 2022-07-15
  38. ^ "Melodifestivalen 2022: Tenori - "La Stella"". Eurovisionworld. Retrieved 2022-07-15.
  39. ^ Wilson, Malou (2022-02-23). "Här är allt du vill veta om duon Tenori i Melodifestivalen 2022". www.hant.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2022-07-15.
  40. ^ "Tenori: "Melodifestivalen är på den bra sidan av crazy"". www.aftonbladet.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2022-07-15.
  41. ^ "Tenori: "Att vara operasångare är som att vara atlet"". DN.SE (in Swedish). 2022-02-26. Retrieved 2022-07-15.
  42. ^ "Operaduon Tenori debuterar i Melodifestivalen – är redan kända världen över". nyheter24.se (in Swedish). 2022-02-25. Retrieved 2022-07-15.
  43. ^ "Tenoris tunga bakslag – därför stoppas Mello-duon från projektet med Marianne Mörck: "Problemet är..."". Nöjeslivet (in Swedish). 2022-02-25. Retrieved 2022-07-15.
  44. ^ "La Stella - Mellopedia". mellopedia.svt.se. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  45. ^ "BAWDEN The Sailor's Tale NMC D093 [CT]: Classical CD Reviews- Nov 2004 MusicWeb-International". www.musicweb-international.com. Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  46. ^ "BBC Radio 2 - Sunday Night is Music Night, The Good Old Days". BBC. Retrieved 2022-07-15.
  47. ^ Sweden, Sveriges Television AB, Stockholm, Melodifestivalen 2022: Ask me anything – Tenori (in Swedish), retrieved 2022-07-15{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  48. ^ Melodifestivalen 2022: Se bidragen - Tenori – La Stella | SVT Barn (in Swedish), retrieved 2022-07-15
  49. ^ Pellby, Thorvald; p4sjuharad@sverigesradio.se (2017-10-25). "Recension: De sju dödssynderna". Sveriges Radio (in Swedish). Retrieved 2022-07-14.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  50. ^ Alisehovic, Dzenet; Kristianstad, P4 (2022-02-25). "Tenori ska bjuda Mellopubliken på extra allt". Sveriges Radio (in Swedish). Retrieved 2022-07-15.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  51. ^ "Tenorens okända tv-roll i såpan utomlands". www.expressen.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2022-07-14.
  52. ^ "Come Dine with Me: First shown: Wed 17 Sep 2008 - All 4". www.channel4.com. Retrieved 2022-07-15.
  53. ^ Nelson, Alex (2018-06-07). "Peter Stringfellow on Come Dine With Me was pure TV gold". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 2022-07-15.

Official website

TENORI