About the artist
one of the world’s best countertenors
Terry Wey, considered one of the world’s best countertenors by Fono Forum, is a recurring guest of the most prestigious Early Music festivals and works regularly with the most recognized conductors of this repertoire.
Career
Terry Wey was born into a Swiss-American family of musicians in Berne, Switzerland, experienced a rich musical education as leading soprano soloist of the Vienna Boys’ Choir and went on to study voice with Silvija Vojnic-Purchar, Kurt Equiluz, and Christine Schwarz at the Konservatorium Wien Privatuniversität, where he also studied as a concert pianist. After winning several competitions such as the scholarship of the Migros-Genossenschaftsbund in Zurich or the International Kärntner-Sparkasse Wörthersee Music-scholarship, he started working almost immediately with leading Early Music ensembles such as The English Concert, Les Arts Florissants, Freiburger Barockorchester or Il Pomo d’Oro, under conductors such as William Christie, Thomas Hengelbrock, Marc Minkowski, Konrad Junghänel or Michael Hofstetter. He was invited to some of the most important venues and festivals, e.g. Musikverein Wien, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Wigmore Hall London, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Lincoln Center New York, Suntory Hall Tokyo, Tonhalle Zürich or the Philharmonies of Köln and Essen. He has sung solo recitals at Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, KKL Luzern and Styriarte Graz.
On Stage
On opera stage, he performed in a variety of different roles such as Oberon (Britten: A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Rinaldo (Händel: Rinaldo), Ruggiero (Vivaldi: Orlando Furioso) or Angel 1/The Boy (Benjamin: Written on Skin) at opera houses such as Teatro Real Madrid, Theater an der Wien, Staatsoper Stuttgart or Théâtre des Champs-Elysées Paris as well as the Händel-Festivals in Halle, Karlsruhe and Göttingen. He has worked with stage directors like Claus Guth, Nicolas Brieger, Pier Luigi Pizzi, Pierre Audi, Luk Perceval, Balázs Kovalik and Floris Visser, but also with free improvisation theater groups such as Nico and the Navigators or Sasha Waltz & Guests. His appearance in the main role of Händel’s Partenope alongside Christine Schäfer was highly acclaimed at the Theater an der Wien (Christophe Rousset/Pierre Audi, 2009), as were his debut at the Salzburg Whitsun Festival 2010 conducted by Riccardo Muti at Felsenreitschule Salzburg (N. Jommelli: Betulia Liberata), his interpretation of Arsamenes in Stefan Herheim’s immensely successful production of Händel’s Xerxes at Deutsche Oper am Rhein Düsseldorf (2013, 2015 & 2019), as well as his debut under Nikolaus Harnoncourt in Purcell’s The Fairy Queen at the Styriarte festival 2014. In summer 2018 Terry Wey was the first countertenor ever to be invited to the Bayreuther Festspiele, for the world premiere of Klaus Lang’s der verschwundene hochzeiter.
Recordings
Terry Wey’s special interest in renaissance polyphony led him to co-found the vocal ensemble Cinquecento, as well as working with leading vocal ensembles such as the Huelgas Ensemble, Gesualdo Consort Amsterdam or Weser-Renaissance. Apart from sixteen CDs with Cinquecento (hyperion), his discography includes complete recordings of Steffani’s Niobe (Erato), Albinoni’s Il Nascimento dell’Aurora (oehms classics), Handel’s Israel in Egypt (Carus) and Faramondo (Virgin classics), Graun's Iphigenia in Aulis (cpo) as well as two recordings of Bach’s B-Minor-Mass conducted by Marc Minkowski (naïve) and Václav Luks (Accent) and Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater with fellow countertenor Valer Sabadus (oehms classics). February 2017 has seen the release of his debut solo CD album Pace e guerra with Bach Consort Wien under Rubén Dubrovsky, by the label deutsche harmonia mundi.
He will begin his concert season 2024/25 with solo recitals at the festival „Bayreuth Baroque“ and with Hille Perl (viol) at Schütz-Musikfest Dresden. During passion season 2025 he will return as first Alto to the traditional Holland tour of Bachs St. Matthew Passion for the Nederlandse Bachvereiniging, conducted this time by Hans-Christoph Rademann. Further concert appearances include Düsseldorf Festival, Bachstiftung St. Gallen, Lugano Arte e Cultura, Concertgebouw Brügge, as well as Bachs b-minor-mass at Suntory Hall Tokyo, conducted by Masato Suzuki. On the opera stage, Terry Wey will sing the title role in Agostino Steffanis Orlando generoso at Musikfestspiele Potsdam-Sanssouci. His vocal ensemble „Cinquecento“, which celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2024, is invited to festivals such as RheinVokal and Forum Alte Musik Zürich.
