biography

Celebrated for the expressive power of his voice and adventurous musical choices, British countertenor Hugh Cutting is redefining the possibilities of his voice type on both opera and recital stages. A BBC New Generation Artist (2022–24) and the first countertenor to win the Kathleen Ferrier Award, he combines luminous vocal artistry with an instinct for musical storytelling. In the 2025/26 season, he makes house debuts as Arsace (Partenope) at English National Opera, Unulfo (Rodelinda) at Santa Fe Opera, and Tolomeo (Giulio Cesare) at The Grange Festival. He received the Rising Star Award at the 2025 International Opera Awards, and has been shortlisted for the Royal Philharmonic Society Young Artist Award.
A Wigmore Hall Artist in Residence this season, Hugh curates and performs a wide-ranging recital series and appears with, among others, The English Concert and Harry Bicket, Les Arts Florissants and William Christie, his own ensemble Refound, the Dunedin Consort, and the Irish Baroque Orchestra under Peter Whelan, with whom he also undertakes a solo US recital tour. He debuts with the San Francisco Symphony in Bach’s Easter Oratorio under Bernard Labadie; joins Jonathan Cohen and Arcangelo for a European tour of St Matthew Passion, and sings Didymus Theodora on a European tour with Thomas Dunford and Jupiter Ensemble.
Hugh has made a number of notable international opera debuts in recent seasons: Corindo (Orontea, Cesti) at La Scala, Milan; the title role in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Eurydicewith The Dallas Opera; the Boy in George Benjamin's Written on Skin at Deutsche Oper Berlin; Tolomeo (Giulio Cesare, Handel) with Pinchgut Opera in Sydney; and Monteverdi at Opernhaus Zürich. He has also performed Ariel in the world premiere of Anthony Bolton’s Island of Dreams at Grange Park Opera, and the Boy in Written on Skin in Stavanger (conducted by the composer) and in Rome with the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. In the 2024/25 season Hugh performed Unolfo Rodelinda with Garsington Opera where he was presented with the Leonard Ingrams Award for outstanding talent.
On the concert platform, Hugh has appeared at Wigmore Hall and made his US concert debut at Carnegie Hall with Bernard Labadie and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. Other recent highlights include Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Masaaki Suzuki, the NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover, and the Tonkünstler Orchestra; Messiah with Ivor Bolton; St Matthew Passion with the Rotterdam Philharmonic and Jonathan Cohen; Polinesso (Ariodante) with Les Arts Florissants, Dardano (Amadigi) with The English Concert; and solo cantatas with Les Violons du Roy and Bernard Labadie in Quebec City and Montreal.
A passionate champion of new music, Hugh has premiered works by Alex Ho, Piers Connor Kennedy, Elena Langer, Anna Semple, and Tara Viscardi. His debut album REFOUND with pianist Audrey Hyland was released on Linn Records in October 2025, earning a Gramophone Critic's Choice Award, and featuring as one of the Best Classical Albums of 2025.
A former choral scholar at St John’s College, Cambridge, Hugh went on to study at the Royal College of Music, where he was a member of the International Opera Studio and was awarded the Tagore Gold Medal, presented by HM King Charles III.
Hugh is represented internationally Askonas Holt. ​https://www.askonasholt.com/artists/hugh-cutting/