Ian Storey was born and raised in Chilton, Co.Durham. He obtained a BA (Hons) degree in Furniture Design at Loughborough University, thereafter taking up a teaching position in New Zealand, where he began to study singing with Anthea Moller. After returning to the UK he studied with Bryan Drake and Laura Sarti in London, then with Rita Patanè and Dante Mazzola in Milan. He most recently studied with Carlo Cossutta in Trieste.
His opera career began in 1991 with the role of Male Chorus in
The Rape of Lucretia followed by Rodolfo in
La Bohème and Radames in
Aida, all with Opera East. Other roles performed included Don José in
Carmen, Osaka in
Iris, and the title roles in Peter Grimes and
Faust.
In 1993, with sponsorship from The Royal Opera, Covent Garden and The Peter Moores Foundation, he studied at the National Opera Studio in London. Walter Scott & Partners funded further study in Italy.
He understudied many leading roles with the major British opera companies including Mark in
The Midsummer Marriage, Cavaradossi in
Tosca, Carlo VII in
Giovanna d'Arco and Corrado in
Il corsaro for The Royal Opera, Covent Garden and Alvaro in
La forza del destino for Scottish Opera.
Ian has recorded
Nozze istriane,
Jenufa and
Lulu on CD. Broadcast recordings for BBC Radio 3 include
The Olympians by Bliss, Elgar's
The Spanish Lady and Benjamin's
A Tale of Two Cities. He has also recorded
Nozze istriane for Italian TV.
He has sung Cavaradossi in
Tosca, Rodolfo in
La Bohème, Manrico in
Il Trovatore, Pinkerton in
Madama Butterfly and Boris in Kát'a Kabanová for Scottish Opera (also recorded live for BBC Radio 3); Cavaradossi in
Tosca, Calaf in
Turandot and Boris in
Kát'a Kabanová for Welsh National Opera; Calaf in
Turandot for the Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago; Turiddu in
Cavalleria rusticana in Treviso; Gregor in
Vec Makropulos and Števa in
Jenufa in Naples, with Raina Kabaivanska; Calaf in
Turandot and Lorenzo in
Nozze istriane in Triest; Don José in
Carmen in Cagliari, Alwa in
Lulu for Palermo; Samson in
Samson et Dalila for Genoa; Hermann in
Pique Dame for Bologna, Don José in
Carmen for Glyndebourne Festival Opera, the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm and the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich; Cavaradossi in
Tosca for Opera North; Bacchus in
Ariadne auf Naxos in Venice; Bacchus in
Ariadne auf Naxos in Lisbon.
Concerts include
Vec Makropulos at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam (also recorded for the Netherlands’ Radio Vara),
Verdi’s Requiem in Durham Cathedral and in Newcastle; a recital in honour of Renata Scotto in Gdansk, Poland;
the Glagolitic Mass in Venice;
Das Lied von der Erde and
Beethoven's 9th Symphony in Bologna;
Beethoven's 9th Symphony in Rome.
Future plans include: Calaf in
Turandot at the Arena di Verona; Calaf in
Turandot in Genoa; Dick Johnson in
La Fanciulla del West in Turin; Sharing the role of Hermann in
Pique Dame with Placido Domingo in Madrid and at La Scala in Milan; the title role in
Otello in St.Gallen; Calaf in
Turandot in Montpellier; Florestan in
Fidelio for Scottish Opera; Bacchus in
Ariadne auf Naxos in Chicago; Erik in
Der Fliegende Holländer for Welsh National Opera.
July 2003