Biography
Nathan Mercieca started singing as a boy chorister in the London Oratory School Schola, with whom he recorded the soundtracks to, among others, The Lord of The Rings and Finding Neverland. He went on to study at Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge, where he was Senior Choral Exhibitioner, and subsequently completed postgraduate studies at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Theresa Goble.
Operatic roles include Peisander (cover) in Monteverdi The Return of Ulysses (Royal Opera House), “JL” in John Ramster’s staging of Handel’s Messiah (Merry Opera), Xerse in Cavalli Xerse at the Grimeborn Festival (Ensemble OrQuesta), and Sorceress/Spirit in Purcell Dido and Aeneas (Armonico). A keen exponent of contemporary opera, he created several roles: all the male parts in Clare Elton and Lila Palmer These Wondering Stones (Barbican Centre/Museum of London), CJ in Warboy & Stewart Fierce Love (Tête-à-Tête), and Daryl/the Devil in Muelas+Ward A&E (Tête-à–Tête). He workshopped the role of Yoël in Na’ama Zisser’s Mamzer/Bastard (Royal Opera House), and recorded the role of Jack in Mark Bowler and Gareth Mattey’s chamber opera Little England.
His solo concert appearances include Handel’s Messiah at Wigmore Hall (Irish Baroque Orchestra/Peter Whelan), Purcell “Hail, Bright Cecilia” at St John’s Smith Square (Wond’rous Machine/Joel Sandelson), and operatic arias by Handel remixed by live DJ at the London Handel Festival (Festival Voices/Greg Batsleer). With Solomon’s Knot he recorded a solo voices disc of the Motets of J. S. and J. C. Bach, performing the project at Wigmore Hall, the Aldeburgh Festival, and the Concertgebouw Bruges.
Much in demand as an ensemble singer, Nathan has performed across Europe with Solomon’s Knot, le Concert d’Astrée, Sestina, Siglo de Oro, Opus Anglicanum, the London Choral Sinfonia, and the Armonico Consort. As a member of His Majesty’s Chapel Royal at St James’s Palace he is honoured to have sung at many events of international importance, including most recently the State Funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and the Coronation of Their Majesties the King and Queen.
This season includes a return to the London Handel Festival and the Thüringer Bachwochen with Solomon’s Knot in a programme of Handel, Bach, and Scarlatti, David in Handel’s Saul with the Hertford Choral Society and Manvinder Rattan, a recording of the Dublin version of Handel’s Messiah with the IBO and Peter Whelan, as well as developing two new operas, to be presented in the 2024/25 season.
Equally accomplished as a musicologist, Nathan holds a PhD in music from Royal Holloway, University of London. He researches topics in the analysis and philosophy of music; his chapter ‘To Be in Time: Repetition, Temporality, and the Musical Work’ is forthcoming in a volume by OUP. He supervises a number of historical and analytical topics at Cambridge University, and appears as a guest lecturer at the Royal Academy of Music.