Paul Agnew

One of the world's foremost tenors specializing in Baroque opera and choral music, Paul Agnew has a long vocal résumé that includes works of many nationalities and time periods. He has also turned to conducting in the second half of his career, becoming the first conductor other than founder William Christie to lead the noted French Baroque ensemble Les Arts Florissants. Agnew has recorded a wide variety of material, including songs of Ivor Gurney. In 2018, conducting Les Arts Florissants, he released an album devoted to little-known French Baroque motet composers Sébastien de Brossard and Pierre Bouteiller. Agnew has led music from beyond the French Baroque, initiating recorded series of the madrigals of Monteverdi and Gesualdo in the 2010s and 2020s. In 2023, the Gesualdo series concluded with recordings of the composer's Fifth and Sixth Books of Madrigals and the Tenebrae Responsories.