
Spencer
Britten
Tenor.Dancer.Actor
"...oozing with mirth and personality." -Opera Canada
Corinna Radakovits Photography


ABOUT
ME!
Jeremy Knowles Photography
Spencer Britten is a Chinese-Canadian artist “oozing with mirth and personality” (Opera Canada) from Vancouver, British Columbia. His accomplishments in Opera & Musical Theatre have led him to performances with companies including Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Royal Opera Versailles, Bregenzer Festspiele, The Glimmerglass Festival, Opéra de Montréal, Vancouver Opera, and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
Following a summer covering Don Ottavio at The Glyndebourne Festival, the 2023/24 season includes Spencer's debut at the Hungarian State Opera in L'Italiana in Algeri followed by covering Tonio in La fille du régiment at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. He also sings Handel's Messiah with Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Orchestre Métropolitain at the Notre Dame Basilica in Montreal.
Recently acclaimed performances include Lindoro in L’Italiana in Algeri (Bregenzer Festspiele)
and Janek in Claus Guth’s new production of The Makropulos Case (Staatsoper Unter den Linden) where he gave “great emotional spectrum” (Vorarlberg Nachrichten) and “[won] the sympathy of the audience” (Die Welt.)
Spencer also appeared in the critically acclaimed Messiah/Complex with Against the Grain Theatre, representing the queer and Asian communities in this all-Canadian take on Handel’s Messiah. The digital production, including Spencer's "joyful Comfort Ye" (New York Times/The Globe & Mail) and "deliciously sly Ev’ry valley" (Opera Going Toronto) was Juno Nominated and won the Noteworthy Category of Opera America's Awards for Digital Excellence. It played online, in theatres, and on radio internationally.
Spencer was recently a finalist in the Edmonton Opera Rumbold Vocal Prize (3rd Prize,) as well as the Opera Crown Tbilisi International Voice Competition. He was also a semi-finalist in the Paris Opera Competition and a final rounds singer at Neue Stimmen. He has been a winner/recipient of The Jacqueline Desmarais Foundation For Young Canadian Opera Singers Grant, The Vancouver Opera Guild Career Development Grant, The Vancouver Opera Chorus Endowment Career Development Grant, The Joseph and Melitta Kandler Scholarship for the Advanced Music Study, and The Barbara Eves-Motomochi Memorial Fund.
Opera in a Nutshell
Opera in a Nutshell


In A Nutshell - The Magic Flute

Opera in a nutshell | TURANDOT

Opera in a nutshell | CARMEN
"The scene was tasty, and this young man is a born actor. We already know that he will go far"
-(translated from) Ludwig Van Montreal

Rumbold winner sings in Edmonton Opera's Home for the Holidays
A shifting industry is paving the way for audiences and performers to be themselves
Photo: Jacy Eberlein
& Performance
With Michael Lewis at Wear Yellow Proudly
about the experiences Lyndsey Britten and I had growing up as mixed Chinese - Canadian performers in the Performing Arts.

“...a "born Rossini tenor" with flashing coloratura and effortless high notes.”
- (translated from) Neue Vorarlberger Tageszeitung
"Britten and Tufford were very well matched with warm, sumptuous duets."
-Schmopera (on a Midsummer Night's Dream)
A Midsummer Night's Dream - Vancouver Opera 2023 - Tim Matheson Photography
[Hermia - Hillary Tufford]

Up Next
Spencer is currently the cover for Tonio in La fille du régiment at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. It has been a long time dream for Spencer to work on this role, especially in Laurent Pelly's iconic production. He covers Lawrence Brownlee who performs alongside Lisette Oropesa as Marie, and Alessandro Corbelli as Sulpice.

caerus.exe Photography
Performances lost due to COVID-19:
-
Petrarch Sonnets (Liszt) - Concert Cycles
- L'Atelier Lyrique de l'Opéra de Montréal -
Snowboy - West Side Story (Bernstein)
- Teatro Lirico di Cagliari (Italian Debut) -
Tamino (Cover) - Die Zauberflöte (Mozart)
- Opéra de Montréal -
Rick - I was looking at the ceiling and then I saw the sky (Adams)
- Cincinnati May Festival (Cincinnati Debut) -
Soloist - Grande Première des Futures Étoiles
- Fondation de la Place des Arts -
Ubaldo - Armida (Haydn)
- Bregenzer Festspiele (Austrian Debut) -
Snowboy (+Baby John Cover) - West Side Story (Bernstein)
- Opera Nacional de Chile (South American Debut) -
Heinrich der Schreiber - Tannhäuser (Wagner)
- Staatsoper Unter den Linden -
4th Jude - Salome (R.Strauss)
- Staatsoper Unter den Linden -
Borsa - Rigoletto (Verdi)
- Staatsoper Unter den Linden -
Soloist - Coronation Mass (Mozart)
- Orchestre Symphonique de Québec -
Gastone - La Traviata (Verdi)
- Staatsoper Unter den Linden -
Seigen - The Scarlet Princess (Louie)
- The Governor General Performing Arts Award - Canada

GET IN ToUCH!

Messiah/Complex - Against the Grain Theatre
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BOB QUINTANA
President and Artist Manager
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