Ainsley, John Mark
Ainsley, John Mark
Ainsley, John Mark, English tenor; b. Crewe, July 9, 1963. He studied at Magdalen Coll., Oxford, and with Anthony Rolfe Johnson. After making his professional debut as a soloist in Stravinsky’s Mass at London’s Royal Festival Hall in 1984, he appeared frequently as a soloist with many early music groups from 1985. He made his first appearance with the English National Opera in London as Eurillo in Scarlatti’s Gli equivoci nel sembiante in 1989. In 1990 he made his U.S. debut as a soloist in Bach’s Mass in B Minor in N.Y. under Hogwood’s direction. In 1991 he appeared as Mozart’s Ferrando with the Glyndebourne Touring Opera, and also sang that composer’s Idamante with the Welsh National Opera in Cardiff. His first appearance at the Glyndebourne Festival followed in 1992 as Ferrando, the same year in which he made his debut as a soloist with the Berlin Phil. In 1993 he sang Mozart’s Don Ottavio at the Aix-en-Provence Festival, a role he sang again at the San Francisco Opera in 1995. In 1997 he sang in concert at London’s Royal Festival Hall. He portrayed Jupiter in Semele at the English National Opera in 1999.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire