Northern Irish baritone Ben McAteer is an alumnus of the National Opera Studio in London and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Before embarking on a musical career, he studied chemistry at the University of St Andrews. Recent operatic highlights include Baskir in Félicien David’s Lalla-Roukh for Wexford Festival Opera, Schaunard in Irish National Opera’s concert performance of Puccini’s La bohème, Eisenstein in Johann Strauss II’s Die Fledermaus for Northern Ireland Opera, Father in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel with INO and also for English National Opera at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, Frank/Fritz in Korngold’s Die tote Stadt with the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, Count Almaviva in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro for INO and Pangloss in Leonard Bernstein’s Candide with the Xi’an Symphony Orchestra. A natural performer of the works of Gilbert & Sullivan, Ben has performed as the Earl of Mountararat in Iolanthe for English National Opera, Pooh-Bah in The Mikado with Lyric Opera Productions and most recently as The Grand Inquisitor in The Gondoliers and King Paramount in Utopia, Limited, both for Scottish Opera. His discography includes the role of Jesus in Sullivan’s oratorio The Light of the World and Rupert Vernon in his operetta Haddon Hall, both recorded with the BBC Concert Orchestra. He also features on a new CD of undiscovered songs by Irish composer Ina Boyle.