Humanities Cultural Programme Visiting Fellowship Announcement

Image © Ashmolean Museum / Emily Jarrett - ARC in the Ashmolean museum

As part of the Humanities Cultural Programme (HCP), we are delighted to announce that Anthony Roth Costanzo has been awarded a HCP Visiting Fellowship.

Anthony has appeared with many of the world’s leading opera houses including the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, English National Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Los Angeles Opera, Canadian Opera Company, Glyndebourne Opera Festival, Dallas Opera, Teatro Real Madrid, Spoleto Festival USA, Glimmerglass Festival, and Finnish National Opera. In concert he has sung with the New York Philharmonic, The Cleveland Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Berlin Philharmonic, NDR at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, and the London Symphony Orchestra, among others.

He has performed at a wide-ranging variety of venues including Carnegie Hall, Versailles, The Kennedy Center, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Sawdust, Minamiza Kyoto, Joe’s Pub, The Guggenheim, The Park Avenue Armory, and Madison Square Garden.

Anthony has begun working as a producer and curator in addition to his singing, creating shows for Opera Philadelphia, National Sawdust, Philharmonia Baroque, The Barnes Foundation, St. John The Divine, Princeton University, WQXR, The State Theater in Salzburg, Master Voices and Kabuki-Za Tokyo. In film, he played Francis in the Merchant Ivory film, A Soldier’s Daughter Never Cries, for which he was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award.

Anthony’s many other awards include first place in the Operalia competition, a Grand Finals Winner of the 2009 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, a George London Award, a career grant from the Richard Tucker Foundation, and the first countertenor to win First Place in the Houston Grand Opera Eleanor McCullom competition, where he also won the audience choice prize. He has also received a Sullivan Foundation Award, and won First Place in the Opera Index Competition, the National Opera Association Vocal Competition, and the Jensen Foundation Competition.

He graduated from Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Princeton University, where he has returned to teach, and received his Masters of Music from the Manhattan School of Music, where he now serves on the board of Trustees.

Professor Richard Bruce Parkinson said:

'Thanks to director James Ivory, Oxford Egyptology has been involved with Glass' Akhnaten since 2016. For someone who researches the performance of Ancient Egyptian poetry, it's been wonderful to be involved in Anthony's deeply empathetic interpretation of the heretic pharaoh, and to explore how closely the aims of performers and academics relate to each other in re-imagining ancient lives and giving life to ancient words. We're especially grateful to TORCH for the opportunity to have Anthony here in 2022, as we commemorate the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb with an exhibition in the Bodleian.'

Dr Daniela Rosenow said:

'I am extremely excited to work with Anthony as I am not only an Egyptologist but also an enthusiastic concert-goer, having myself played the violin in orchestras for many years. I have seen Anthony's performances of Akhnaton in London and New York and really admire his interpretation of this historic figure and his ability to connect with the audience. Most importantly, Akhnaten in particular provides ample opportunities to show that opera is in no way an outdated art form but one that is still very much relevant today addressing topics such as gender fluidity and the relationship between individuals and ideology. I hope that the project enables us to reach out to and inspire younger audiences with enthusiasm for this old yet modern art form.'

The application is led and supported by Professor Richard Bruce Parkinson and Dr Daniela Rosenow.

Find out more about Anthony Roth Costanzo's Visiting Fellowship.

For more information on events & projects, funding opportunities and visiting fellowships supported by the Humanities Cultural Programme please click here.