Ian Partridge

Ian Partridge (born 12 June 1938) is a retired English lyric tenor, whose repertoire ranged from Monteverdi, Bach and Handel, the Elizabethan lute songs, German, French and English songs, through to Schoenberg, Weill and Britten, and on to contemporary works. He formed a renowned vocal-piano duo with his sister Jennifer Partridge, with whom he worked for over 50 years. While concentrating mainly on songs, oratorio and lieder, he also recorded opera, and has an extensive discography. He is now a teacher and adjudicator, and conducts master classes in many countries.

Biography Ian Harold Partridge was born in 1938 in Wimbledon. He was a chorister at New College, Oxford 1948–52, Leaving after a year because he had engaged in paid employment, which was banned by the RCM, During this period, he appeared in the West End production of John Osborne's Luther. He also worked for some time as a piano accompanist. In 1967, he recorded for EMI Records Ltd, with the Choir of King's College, Cambridge and the English Chamber Orchestra, conducted by David Willcocks, the Charpentier's "Messe de Minuit" for Christmas H.9

Partridge appeared only once in opera, With Pierre Boulez, Partridge recorded Schoenberg's Die Jakobsleiter, Schumann's Der Rose Pilgerfahrt and Stravinsky's Le Rossignol. He has performed Walton's Façade at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam with the composer's widow Lady Walton.

He has been President of the Incorporated Society of Musicians.

From 1996-2002 Partridge was a director of PAMRA (Performing Artists Media Rights Association), a UK not-for-profit organisation set up in 1996 as a result of EU directive 92/100/EEC, Article 8(2), which gave performers the right to receive "equitable remuneration". Prior to this, “non-featured artists” (including orchestral players and choral singers) did not receive royalties when their performances were broadcast or played in public. By 2002 PAMRA had more than 15,000 members and was paying out millions of pounds in royalties to rank-and-file musicians.

He has conducted masterclasses on Lieder, English Song and Early Music, at Aldeburgh, Vancouver, Ravinia, Trondheim, Versailles and Helsinki. He continues to lead residential singing weekends, such as his annual course at Jackdaws Music Education Trust and has been a professor at the Royal Academy of Music since 1996.

On 13 September 2016, Partridge was the focus of the BBC Radio 4 programme Voices of....

His voice appears on Vol. 5 of The Record of Singing.