Having originally trained and worked as a chef, British tenor Samuel Boden changed his career path and studied singing under John Wakefield at Trinity Laban Conservatoire. He received numerous awards including the Ricordi Opera Prize and the Derek Butler London Prize, as well as awards from the Harold Hyam Wingate Foundation, the Samling Foundation, and the Arts and Humanities Research Council. Throughout college and after leaving in 2008, he worked extensively in the UK and internationally with many leading ensembles, including Ex Cathedra, The Gabrieli Consort, The Sixteen, and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.  He has since become increasingly in demand as a soloist, which has led to a variety of experiences, both on the concert platform and on the opera stage, performing music from a wide range of styles and eras. This ranges from Roman laments and Elizabethan lute songs, through to West Side Story for the 50th Anniversary World Tour – however, his grounding in choral music has contributed to his deeper involvement with, and love for, early music, and he has performed operas and concerts of this repertoire extensively at home and abroad. Early opera engagements include The Fairy Queen for Theater St Gallen and Glyndebourne; Anfinomo in The Return of Ulysses for English National Opera at the Young Vic; The Indian Queen at Opéra Théâtre de Métropole, Metz; and the title role of Cavalli’s L’Ormindo for the Royal Opera/Shakespeare’s Globe collaboration in their inaugural season at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse.

Samuel’s love of languages, most notably French, has led to an interest in French Baroque.  As a high light lyric tenor, he has been exploring the “Haute Contre” repertoire and enjoys a busy schedule of such performances. This repertoire has included the title role in Charpentier’s Actéon for Opéra de Dijon and Opéra de Lille / Emanuelle Haïm; Hippolyte in Hippolyte et Aricie with Ensemble Pygmalion / Raphäel Pichon; and Abaris in Les Boréades with Les Musiciens du Louvre / Marc Minkowski at the Aix-en-Provence Festival.

On the concert platform, Samuel has appeared with the BBC Symphony Orchestra for Zemlinsky with John Storgards, Argento with Giancarlo Guerro, and Carl Rütti with Stephen Jackson; Stravinsky with Sakari Oramo at The Proms; the Hallé Orchestra and Robert Howarth for Messiah; the Royal Northern Sinfonia and Thomas Zehetmair for Mozart and Britten; the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and Curnyn for Handel; the Bilbao Symphony Orchestra with Howarth; the Frankfurt Radio Orchestra and Emmanuelle Haïm for Rameau and Purcell; Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra and Nicholas Kraemer with Bach and Handel; The Monteverdi Choir and John Eliot Gardiner for Bach; Collegium Vocale Gent and Philippe Herreweghe with Lassus, Monteverdi, and Purcell; Le Concert d’Astrée and Haïm for Monteverdi and Charpentier; and Ex Cathedra and Jeffrey Skidmore for Bach, Carissimi, and Charpentier.

In current recital programmes, Samuel performs lute song repertoire with Paula Chateaueuf and Britten, Fauré, Debussy, and Hahn with Iris Torossian.  Samuel’s growing discography includes Berlioz’s Roméo et Juliette with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Sir Andrew Davis; and discs of Monteverdi, Capra, Charpentier, Daniel Purcell, Rameau, Bach, and Blow alongside Tansy Davies, Alec Roth, and George Benjamin.

His plans include the title role of Rameau’s Platée for Garsington Opera, his Carnegie Hall début with the Orchestra of St. Lukes’ Bernard Labadie, plus a project with Collegum Vocale Gent, The English Concert, and Cappella Mediterranea.

Outside of his performance life, Samuel is an extreme sports enthusiast and enjoys snowboarding, rock climbing, and downhill mountain biking.