National Opera Studio Home

Dawid Kimberg Baritone
Dawid was born in Johannesburg and attended the Drakensberg Boys' Choir School. He moved to the UK in 2001 and is currently a scholar at the Royal College of Music where he studies with Ryland Davies.

His many oratorio performances in the UK and South Africa include the St John Passion, St Matthew Passion, Mass in B minor, Magnificat and various Cantatas by Bach, Messiah, Samson and Dixit Dominus by Handel, Mass in C major and Requiem by Mozart, Haydn's Nelson Mass and Creation, Faure's Requiem, Carmina Burana by Orff, Puccini's Messe di Gloria, Vaughan Williams's 5 Mystical Songs, Tippett's A Child of our Time, Dvorak's Stabat Mater and the complete choral works of Durufle (available on the Lammas label), many of these performances taking place in major concert venues like St. John's Smith Square, St. Martin in the Fields, Cadogan Hall and Symphony Hall, Birmingham.

Operatic roles include Duke in Romeo & Juliette by Gounod for British Youth Opera, Bruno in Parthenogenesis by James MacMillan performed in Canterbury Cathedral and Masetto in Don Giovanni at the Purcell Room.

In recital he has performed songs by Schubert, including performances of Die Schöne Müllerin in Aberdeen and London, Schumann, Wolf, Brahms, Beethoven, Mahler, Finzi, Britten, Vaughan-Williams, Fauré and Duparc. Recently Dawid had the great honour of performing for Nelson Mandela. Whilst at the RCM Dawid has taken part in masterclasses with Graham Johnson, Mark Padmore, Peter Harvey, Sarah Walker, Richard van Allen, Michael Chance and Roger Vignoles. His sponsors include The Ernest Oppenheimer Memorial Trust, The Apollo Music Trust and the Josephine Baker Trust. He is the 2004 winner of the Great Elm Vocal Awards.

In September 2006 Dawid joined the Benjamin Britten International Opera School with generous support from the Countess of Munster Trust. Engagements this season include the role of Ottone L'incoronazione di Poppea and Count Le nozze di Figaro for the BBIOS, St Matthew Passion at Bath Abbey, St John Passion and Easter Oratorio in Norway, Messiah at the Royal Albert Hall (Sir David Willcocks) and Mass in B Minor at Wells Cathedral for Bristol Bach Choir. Subsequent engagements include Carmina Burana for the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Derngate Theatre, Northampton. Dawid Kimberg is a Hazard Chase Young Associate Artist and joins the National Opera Studio in September 2007.