John Stewart Kempster

Stewart Kempster was born in North wales where he began he studied Singing and Piano at The Royal Academy of music winning many prizes and awards and was lucky enough to work with many of the great composers of that time such as Messiaen, Penderecki, Lutostavski, Michael Tippet and John Tavener in the highly successful RAM living composer collaborations. After a spell with Scottish Opera he performed much of the Bass operatic repertoire with many different Opera companies at home and abroad working with some of the great singers and conductors in the business. He performed Don Magnifico Cenorentola at the legendary La Fenice opera house in Venice and received critical acclaim for his portrayal of Porgy Porgy and Bess and the four villain roles Tales of Hoffman for Wexford Festival. An accomplished oratorio singer he has performed with all of the major choirs and orchestras in the UK in the works of Handel, Mendelssohn’s Elijah Haydn’s Creation and the requiems of Brahms, Faure, Mozart and Verdi with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Scottish Opera Orchestra and the Scottish National Orchestra. He sang all of the major works of J S Bach and many of his church cantatas in the City of London Bach cantata series. Stewart appears on a number of CD recordings including Leighton’s Hymn to Matter and the Durufle Requiem with the Scottish National Orchestra and three CD’s of Chinese Lyrics by the John Rose. He also sung in several broadcasts from the Proms, Wexford Festival and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden on BBC Radio three and Lyric FM and more recently worldwide in the popular live opera HD broadcasts to cinemas globally.

Stewart has recorded a number of film scores including the Lord of the Rings with Howard Shore and the London Philharmonic also with John Williams on the Star Wars soundtracks.  In recital Stewart has worked all over Europe most recently singing on the Isle of Bornhohm and in the Ried Hall Edinburgh. When not performing Stewart is an examiner (grades, Jazz and Diploma) for ABRSM and has undertaken tours all over the UK and the Asia Pacific region. He is also a noted adjudicator and recently adjudicated the Hong Kong International Singing competition and has also  given masterclasses in various musical institutions  including the Hong Kong Academy of Performing arts. In 2012 he was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM), an award offered to past students of the Academy who have distinguished themselves in the music profession and made a significant contribution to it in their own particular field.

Stewart is available to teach singing (all styles and levels including language coaching), piano, music theory and exam preparation from grade one to diploma level. Based is southern Scotland he is available for face to face lessons or online.