
Spencer
Britten
Tenor.Dancer.Actor
Diamond's Edge Photography
"...oozing with mirth and personality." - Opera Canada


ABOUT
ME!
Jeremy Knowles Photography
Spencer Britten is a Chinese-Canadian artist “oozing with mirth and personality” (Opera Canada.) His accomplishments in Opera & Musical Theatre have led him to work internationally with companies including Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Glyndebourne Festival, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Hungarian State Opera, Royal Opera Versailles, Bregenzer Festspiele, and The Glimmerglass Festival. Spencer has sung with the likes of conductors Sir Simon Rattle, Antonio Pappano, and Simone Young. Concert work has been notably punctuated by Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Orchestre Metropolitain’s Messiah (2023,) streamed on Stage+ (Deutsche Grammophon) and again with a star studded cast and The Philadelphia Orchestra (2024.)
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 (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.
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 a semi-finalist in the Paris Opera Competition and a final rounds contestant 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 - Die Fledermaus

In a Nutshell - Carmen

In A Nutshell - Don Pasquale
"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, along with pianist Jialiang Zhu will present an all Asian/Queer recital at the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre. This recital debut includes works by Benjamin Britten (the tenor's ancestor,) Chinese Canadian composer Alice Ping Yee Ho, Dylan Trần, Ben Moore, and more!
The program sheds some light on Spencer's story of growing up mixed race and finding their identity. It incorporates songs and arias from the traditional classical music canon, as well as works from living composers.
Being Asian and being Queer are often compartmentalized— traditional family values and limited accessibility to same-sex marriages in Asian countries result in many LGBTQ+ people being silenced. It will be an afternoon where Queer-Asian artistry unites these two worlds, sharing their unique stories and perspectives with you.

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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!

BOB QUINTANA
President and Artist Manager
C: 267-972-8642 |. WhatsApp +12679728642
Amanda Palmer Photography