Derek Welton holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Melbourne, majoring in German and Linguistics. Derek has performed a number of roles in Mozart’s operas: Papageno in The Magic Flute, Guglielmo in Cosi Fan Tutte, and Masetto in Don Giovanni, for the Melbourne Opera Company, and Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro for In Good Company (Melbourne). In March 2006 Derek made his New Zealand and international début in the title role in Salieri’s Falstaff for Opera Otago. Derek’s concert repertoire spans composers from Bach to Sir John Taverner. Baritone/bass solo performances include Bach’s Magnificat, Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, and the title role in Mendelssohn’s Elijah. Upcoming engagements include the role of Jesus both in Bach’s St Matthew Passion and the Australian première of Heinrich von Herzogenberg’s Die Passion, and bass solos in Stainer’s The Crucifixion and Handel’s Messiah. In 2005 Derek won a full scholarship to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, in the final of the Australian Singing Competition. He was runner-up in the Herald Sun Aria, and won the Geelong Aria and the 2005 Booroondara Eisteddfod Vocal Championship.
