About David

Baritone David Afzelius is a young singer from the southern parts of Sweden. He is currently undertaking his Master of Performance at the Royal College of Music, where he is studying with Professor Ben Johnson and Gary Matthewman. At the Royal College of Music, David is a Norah Popple Award Holder supported by the Yvonne Wells Award while also being generously supported by the Thora Olsson foundation through the Swedish Church in London. At the Royal College of Music, David has sung several roles in Opera scenes, among others Figaro, Belcore, Captain Corcoran and Guglielmo, and last year he made his debut with the RCM Opera Studio, singing the role of Pritschitsch in the Merry Widow.

Before commencing his studies at the Royal College of Music, David studied for three years at one of Swedens foremost musical institutions, Operastudion Kapellsberg, where he studied under the tutelage of Karin Bengtsdotter Olsson and Anna Hanning Häggström. During his time there he performed a number of roles, such as Gianni Schicchi in Gianni Schicchi by G. Puccini, Buff in Der Schauspieldirektor by W.A. Mozart, and Papageno in Die Zauberflöte by W.A. Mozart. Before his time studying at Operastudion Kapellsberg he studied with opera singer Luiz Tenaglia.

David has also been engaged outside of school, both in operas, most recently playing Morales in Carmen by Bizet with Carshalton Opera, and also as a oratorio singer, singing works by Larsson, Händel, and Mozart. Before leaving Sweden he also sang Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro on tour and originated the role of the Narrator in the newly written opera, Prins Pom-Pom.

As a young singer, David was one of the founding members of the Malmö Opera Children’s chorus, and has since sung with esteemed choirs such as Svanholm Singers, Malmö Live Vokalensemble and Lungs Studentsångare. With Lunds Studentsångare he performed Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex in San Fransisco with The Philharmonia Orchestra under the baton of Esa-Pekka Salonen.

David has received several scholarships and awards for his singing, among others are the Anders Sandrews scholarship, Anna Withlock’s Memory Trust Scholarship, the Carl Erik Levin’s scholarship, and Makarna Lindekvist’s scholarship.