Praised for his “powerful baritone and impressive vocal range” (Boston Music Intelligencer) and as a “musicianly, smooth vocalist, capable in divisions” (Opera News Online), bass-baritone and hurdy-gurdyist Andrew Padgett is an accomplished interpreter of both baroque and medieval vocal and instrumental music. He has collaborated with several early music luminaries, and has been featured as a soloist in concert venues worldwide. Notable performances include his appearances under the baton of Masaaki Suzuki as the bass soloist in Bach’s Mass in B Minor (BWV 232) at the Esplanade Concert Hall in Singapore and as the bass soloist in Bach’s Johannespassion (BWV 245) at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, NYC, as well as his Alice Tully performance as Harapha in Handel’s Samson (HWV 57) directed by Nicholas McGegan. He has also been featured as a soloist with The American Classcal Orchestra, Dartmouth Handel Society, Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Brandywine Baroque, and Pegasus Early Music, among others.
As an avid performer of medieval and Renaissance music, both as a vocalist and hurdy-gurdy player, Andrew has had the opportunity to study and perform with leading experts in the field. In 2012 he worked with Susan Hellauer, a founding member of Anonymous 4, on a performance based on the plainchant First Vespers for Christmas with polyphonic selections from the Las Huelgas Codex. In the summer of 2013 he attended Early Music Vancouver’s Mediaeval Programme, where he worked with members of the medieval music ensemble Sequentia and its founder, Benjamin Bagby, on a performance entitled The Unknown “Carmina Burana”, featuring 12th-century music from the collection of medieval songs now known as the Carmina Burana. Since then, Andrew has performed a broad selection of repertoire from the 15th century and earlier with TENET, The Thirteen, and Concordian Dawn.
Andrew holds a B.S. in physics, an M.M. in voice from UC Santa Barbara, and an M.M. in Early Music, Oratorio, and Chamber Ensemble at Yale University’s Institute of Sacred Music, where he studied under tenor James Taylor, and was a member of the internationally-acclaimed Yale Schola Cantorum. He is based in New York City, where he sings with the Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys under the direction of Jeremy Filsell.
