Unlocking Musical Skills Through Creative Teaching - Coimbatore
Stewart Kempster is a Singer, Pianist, Examiner, Teacher and International Adjudicator. Born in the UK he studied Singing with Mark Wildman and Iain Ledingham and Piano with Fiona Cameron at The Royal Academy of Music winning many prizes and awards and was fortunate enough to work with many of the leading composers of that time such as Messiaen, Penderecki, Lutoslawski, Michael Tippett and John Tavener in the highly successful RAM living composer collaborations.
After working with Scottish Opera he has since performed with many different Opera companies at home and abroad working with some of the greatest singers, directors and conductors in the business. His roles include Banco (Macbeth), Don Basilio (Il Barbieri di Siviglia), Truelove (The Rake’s Progress), Sarastro (The Magic Flute) and Superintendent Budd (Albert Herring). He also performed in many European Music Festivals notably in France and Italy, also in the Salzburg Festival where he sang in a performance of the Lieder der Schwermut und der Trauer by the Hungarian composer Gyorgy Kurtag. At the legendary La Fenice Opera House in Venice he sung Don Magnifico in La Cenerentola and received critical acclaim for his portrayal of Porgy (Porgy and Bess) and the four villain roles in The Tales of Hoffmann for Wexford Festival Opera.
Stewart is an accomplished oratorio singer and has performed with all of the major choirs and orchestras in the UK in the works of Handel, Mendelssohn’s Elijah and St Paul, Haydn’s Creation and the Requiems of Brahms, Faure, Mozart and Verdi with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Scottish Opera Orchestra and the Scottish National Orchestra. He has sung all of the major works of J S Bach and many of his church cantatas in the City of London Bach cantata series. Stewart appears on a number of CD recordings including Leighton’s Hymn to Matter and the Durufle Requiem with the National Youth Choir of Scotland and the Scottish National Orchestra and three CD’s of Chinese Lyrics by the English composer John Rose. He has also sung in several broadcasts from the BBC Proms, Wexford Festival and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden on BBC Radio 3 and Lyric FM, and more recently worldwide in the popular live opera HD broadcasts to cinemas globally.
Stewart has recorded a number of film scores including The Lord of the Rings working with Howard Shore and the London Philharmonic Orchestra and also with John Williams on the Star Wars soundtracks. He has also met and performed for King Charles on four occasions most recently in a gala performance at the Italian Embassy in London in the presence of the Italian Ambassador.
In recital Stewart has worked all over Europe most recently singing on the Isle of Bornhohm and in the Reid Hall Edinburgh where he performed The Songs of Travel by Ralph Vaughan-Williams. Stewart is also a Grade, Jazz and Diploma examiner for ABRSM and has undertaken tours all over the Asia Pacific region, Africa, the Middle East and New Zealand. He has also adjudicated many competitions and Festivals worldwide including the Hong Kong International Vocal Competition, and has given masterclasses in specialist music schools including the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts.
In 2012 he was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM), an award offered to past students of the Academy who have distinguished themselves in the music profession and made a significant contribution to it in their own particular field.