Ben Kazez

BEN KAZEZ is a baritone appearing regularly in concert with leading orchestras in Europe and the U.S. In the

2026/27 season he makes his solo debut with Les Arts Florissants and William Christie at the Paris Philharmonie

and Royal Chapel of Versailles, broadcast on France Musique. He then makes his opera debut in Italy as

Cadmus/Somnus/High Priest in Handel’s Semele at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna under Rinaldo Alessandrini.

Highlights of his 2025/26 season included Bach, Telemann, and Graupner solos with the Academy of Ancient

Music under Laurence Cummings (earning a five-star review in Bachtrack) and Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with La

Cetra under Andrea Marcon at Freiburg Konzerthaus and Chaux de Fonds (broadcast on Swiss radio). He also

sang Bach cantata solos with B’Rock Orchestra, violinist Cecilia Bernardini, and contemporary dancers. He is a

regular guest at Amsterdam’s Westerkerk for Pilate and arias in John Passion, and for Johannes Leertouwer’s one-

voice-per-part Matthew Passion (streamed this year by the Utrecht Early Music Festival).

In recent seasons Ben has enjoyed singing Bach cantatas at Thomaskirche and Nikolaikirche under Lionel Meunier

(broadcast on German radio) and Zelenka in Paris with Vox Luminis (on Arte.tv broadcast). He sang the title role of

Handel’s Hercules in concert under Václav Luks at Barcelona’s Petit Palau (broadcast on Catalan radio), Valens in

Handel’s Theodora under Christian Curnyn at Snape Maltings, and Buxtehude solos at the London Handel

Festival. He has also sung Messiah at St John’s Smith Square and Haman in Handel’s Esther with American Bach

Soloists.

A lover of chamber music, Ben frequently performs with Dutch Music Prize winner Laurens de Man in repertoire

ranging from Gregorian chant to Schubert, Wolf, Ravel Don Quichotte, Poulenc, Vaughan Williams, Elgar, Langlais,

contemporary premieres, and the satire of Tom Lehrer. Their 2026/27 season includes recitals at the

Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ (Amsterdam) and the De Leidse Salon, and an album including Brahms’s Four Serious

Songs.

Ben trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, as a Britten-Pears young artist, and in Les Arts Florissants

master classes with William Christie. He sang for several years in the Monteverdi Choir under Sir John Eliot

Gardiner at leading concert venues. Ben built and runs VMII.org, an early music search engine used by half a

million people annually. He is also an occasional recording engineer, mix engineer and producer, with upcoming

releases including a solo album for lutenist Thomas Dunford.