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The English tenor, Ben Vishala Thapa, Born in Cambridge, was raised by a single mother from the age of 4 after his father left, and entered foster care when he was 11. It was during this time Thapa started singing lessons and sang in his local church choir, and played the clarinet in an orchestra while at Hills Road Sixth Form College. He studied at Royal Northern College of Music for a year before transferring to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London where he graduated from in 2004. He graduated from the Wales International Academy of Voice in 2013 under the tutelage of Dennis O'Neill. His major bursars include the Musicians Benevolent Fund, the Leverhulme Trust and the Wagner Society. He has participated in a number of master-classes, including Kiri Te Kanawa, Della Jones, Amanda Roocroft, Jonathan Dove (for Music Theatre Wales) and Graham Clark. In addition, he was twice a Britten-Pears scholar. He continues his study privately with David Pollard.
While completing his course at Guildhall, Ben Thapa auditioned for the first series of The X Factor with his G4 bandmates Jon Ansell, Matt Stiff, and Mike Christie where they reached the final but lost out to Steve Brookstein. Due to their popularity on the show they were soon approached by Sony BMG, and the group released three albums. As he had perfect pitch, his other role in G4 was ensuring that the other members were in the right key during their performances. The group split in 2007, with Thapa stating: "I am not a team player. I don't want to be Ben from G4 any more". However, after a seven-year hiatus, G4 reunited for a reunion concert at the Barbican Hall, and announced their 2015 reunion tour.
Ben Thapa has also sung in numerous opera productions. Operatic credits include: President in Mittwoch aus Licht (Birmingham Opera/BBC Proms), Kuzka in Kovanschina (Birmingham Opera Company), Tito in W.A. Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito (Teatru Manoel, Malta), Tamino in W.A. Mozart's The Magic Flute (Regents Opera, Ryedale Festival, Garsington Emerging Artists), Melot in Tristan und Isolde (Longborough Festival Opera), Vanya Kudrjash in Kátya Kabanová (Scottish Opera), Cavaradossi in Tosca (Minack Theatre), Don José in Georges Bizet's Carmen (Minack Theatre), First Armed Man in W.A. Mozart's The Magic Flute (Garsington Opera) and Mat of the Mint in Beggar's Opera (Royal Opera). Roles understudied include Actaeon in Diana and Actaeon (Royal Opera), Max in Der Freischütz (Opera Comique, Paris), Florestan in L.v. Beethoven's Fidelio (Garsington Opera), Tamino in W.A. Mozart's The Magic Flute (Garsington Opera), Kunz Vogelgesang in Meistersingers of Nuremberg (English National Opera) and the tenor roles in Philip Glass' The Trial for Music Theatre Wales at the Royal Opera and on tour.
Concert performances include a concert tour of Monteverdi's Vespers with John Eliot Gardiner and the Monteverdi Choir, George Frideric Handel's Messiah (Royal Albert Hall, The Hanover Band, Manchester Camerata, St. Martin-in-the-Fields), Edward Elgar's Dream of Gerontius (Tewkesbury Cathedral, Burford Singers/Brian Kay), Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle (Colston Hall, Jesus College Cambridge), Verdi's Requiem (Tewkesbury Abbey, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Saffron Hall, London Guildhall, G-Live Guildford), Haydn's The Creation (RAH), W.A. Mozart's Requiem (RAH, SMITF, King's College Cambridge), Sergei Rachmaninov's The Bells (King's Cambridge), L.v. Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 (St. David's Hall Cardiff), Felix Mendelssohn's Elijah (G-Live), Ralph Vaughan Williams' Serenade to Music (Royal Festival Hall), Benjamin Britten's War Requiem (Gresham's, Chester Cathedral) and St. Nicholas (Wakefield Cathedral), and a Leeds Town Hall recital with Dr. Simon Lindley. He has worked with the National Chamber Choir of Ireland, released the album "Songs of My Childhood", and embarked on a nationwide tour. He is also a member of the Monteverdi Choir (Director: John Eliot Gardiner).
Current and future plans include W.A. Mozart's C Minor Mass at St. John's Smith Square, an opera gala with Lesley Garrett, G.F. Handel's Messiah at Dewsbury Town Hall and L.v. Beethoven's Missa Solemnis at Leeds Town Hall. |
