Neil Balfour

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Overview
About
Set List

Overview

Bass-Baritone (Singer) & piano accompanist option
Solo Pianist Option
Extensive repertoire of classical, musical theatre, spiritual and jazz standards
Can arrange any song for the piano or voice
Will supply digital piano

Location

Neil is based in Leeds and frequently performs across the UK.

Standard Set Times

(Singer & Pianist) - 2 x 25 mins as standard but flexible to suit
(Solo Pianist) - 1-2 hours

About this Act

Half-indian, half-scottish bass-baritone, Neil Balfour, is an opera singer who performs professionally as a soloist for concerts and events of classical, art-song, oratorio, musical theatre contemporary music and opera.

"He is an intelligent and sensitive performer with an innate ability to adapt to varied styles of repertoire... a natural comic actor - he is as comfortable singing Mozart as he is performing Sondheim." - Garth Bardsley, Opera Director

Equally comfortable as a concert and oratorio soloist, he has performed for many UK choirs, societies, musicals and opera galas as well as on live Broadcasts for BBC Radio 3, 4 and 6.

As a principal singer, operatic roles have included Mozart’s Così fan Tutte (Don Alfonso) and Le Nozze di Figaro (Figaro and Antonio), Puccini’s La Boheme (Colline), Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Quince) and Billy Budd (Lt. Ratcliffe), Offenbach’s La Vie Parisienne (Lord Ellington) and Verdi’s La Traviata (Dottore Grenvil and Marchese).

Contemporary works have included premiering the roles of La-La (role sponsored by The Opera Awards) in A Shoe Full of Stars (YAM Awards Best Opera 2018) by Omar Sharyar, Nikolaus’ Father in Mysterious 44 by Kevin Malone, Best Man in Cheese by Lucy Armstrong (premiere at the Bridgewater Hall) and recording artist for Magnificat by Oliver Tarney and Convivium Records.

Other jobs of interest include being the creator of www.artsongstory.com, doing voice-over work for Youtube Channel’s with views on his videos reaching well over 100 million, premiering the first electronic opera, conducting 300+ mass choirs and performing a private show for Her Majesty The Queen.

Neil performs with a pianist ,and can arrange any song to suit your needs on your special day. If your chosen venue doesn't have a piano, he can provide a fantastic digital piano, which looks stylish and sounds beautiful.

Set List

CLASSICAL WEDDING VOCAL MUSIC

[OPERA]
Bella Siccome un Angelo - Donizetti
Caro Mio Ben - Giordani
Danza, Danza Fanciulla Gentile - Durante
Gia Il Sole Dal Gange - Scarlatti
Ideale - Tosti
O Del Mio Dolce Ardor - Gluck
Pepita - Tosti
Se Tu M’Ami, Se Sospiri - Pergolesi
Vecchia Zimarra, Senti(La Boheme) - Puccini
Vi Ravviso (La Sonnambula) - Bellini

[ENGLISH SONG]
At The River - Copland
Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes - Quilter
It Was A Lover and His Lass - Finzi
Now Sleeps the crimson Petal - Quilter
O Mistress Mine - Finzi
O Waly, Waly - Britten
Salley Gardens - Britten
Simple Gifts - Copland
Sure on this shining Night - Barber
The Ash Grove - Britten
Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star - R.R. Bennett
Weep You No More - Quilter

[LIEDER & MELODIE]
An Den Mond - Schubert
An Die Musik - Schubert
Liederkreis - Schumann
Apres un Reve - Faure
Automne - Faure
Claire De Lune - Faure
Le Bestiare - Poulenc
Le Secret - Faure
Les Roses d’Ispahan - Faure
Lydia - Faure

[MUSICAL THEATRE SONGS]
Maria (West Side Story) - Bernstein
Tonight (West Side Story) - Bernstein
Cool (West Side Story) - Bernstein
Oh What A Beautiful Mornin’ (Oklahoma) - Rodgers & Hammerstein
Lonely Room (Oklahoma) - Rodgers & Hammerstein
How to Handle A Woman (Camelot) - Frederic Loewe
Stay Well - Kurt Weill

PIANO CEREMONY MUSIC (Contemporary)

Any chart/pop/theatre song - arr. Neil Balfour
I Giorni (Complete Works) - Ludovico Einaudi
Falling Slowly (Once the Musical) - arr. Neil Balfour
Fur Alina - Arvo Part
Frank Sinatra - Various
Night book (Complete Works) - Ludovico Einaudi
Nostalgia - Neil Balfour
Song of Twilight - Yoshinao Nakada
To Be With You (Mr. Big) - arr. Neil Balfour

CEREMONY PIANO MUSIC (Classic)

Air from Suite No.3 in D - Bach
Andante con moto Op.72 No.4 - Mendelssohn
Arioso - Bach
Ave Verum Corpus - Mozart
Carissima - Elgar
Chorus of Hebrew Slaves from ‘Nabucco’ |-Verdi
Einsame Blumen (Woodland Flowers) - Schumann
Erster Verlust (First Loss) - Schumann
Fur Elise -Beethoven
Gymnopedies & Gnossienes - Erik Satie
I know that my redeemer liveth - Handel
Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring |-Bach
Largo - Handel
Meditation from ‘Thais’ - Massenet
Nimrod from ‘Enigma Variations’ - Elgar
O for the wings of a dove - Mendelssohn
O Rest in the Lord from ‘Elijah’ - Mendelssohn
Paris Angelicas - Franck
Pie Jesu from ‘Requiem’ - Faure
Prelude in A - Chopin
Prelude in B Minor - Chopin
Prelude in C - Bach
Prelude in E Minor - Chopin
Salut d’amour - Elgar
2nd Movement from ‘New World Symphony’ - Dvorak
Scheherazade - Schumann
Sonatina in G - Beethoven
Sonatinas - Clementi
To A Wild Rose - MacDowell
Traumerei (Dreaming) - Schumann
False Lente - Merikanto
Waltz in A - Schubert
Waltz in A (Lullaby) - Brahms
Winter Portraits - Kevin Costly

CLASSICAL PIANO REPERTOIRE

Prelude And Fugues - Bach
Piano Works - Neil Balfour
Sonatas & Sonatinas - Beethoven
Rhapsodies & Intermezzos - Brahms
Hngarian & Romanian Dances - Bartok
Nocturnes & Etudes - Chopin
Sonatinas - Clementi
Petit Suite - Debussy
Nightbook & I Giorni - Einaudi
At The Keyboard - Gerschwin
Solo Piano Works - Philip Glass
Sonatas - Handel
Etudes - Ligeti
Fantasies & Sonatas - Mozart
Film Music For Piano - Michael Nyman
Fur Alina - Arvo Part
Preludes - Rachmaninov
Gymnopedies & Gnossienes - Erik Satie
Incanration II - Somei Satoh
Klavierstuckes - Schoenberg
Albumblatter - Schubert
Early Pieces - Schumann
Piano Interpretations - George Shearing

PIANO/VOCAL (Contemporary)

A Little Less Conversation - Elvis
All of Me - John Legend
Angel - Jack Johnson
Beautiful - James Blunt
Beneath Your Beautiful - Labyrinth feat. Emile Sande
Chasing Cars - Snow Patrol
Chicago - Sufjan Stevens
Feel The Love - Rudimental
Hear You Me - Jimmy Eat World
Hiding Place - Holly Maher
Just The Way You Are - Bruno Mars
Mr. Brightside - The Killers
Price Tag - Jessie J
Real Love - Clean Bandit
Run - Snow Patrol
Someone Like You - Adele
Thinking Out Loud - Ed Sheeran
Use Somebody - Kings of Leon
We Found Love - Rihanna
When I Was Your Man - Bruno Mars
You’ve got the love - Florence and the Machine

JAZZ PIANO STANDARDS

Aint Misbehavin - Thomas Fats Waller And Harry Brooks
Blue Train - John Coltrane
Caravan - Duke Ellington
Chameleon - Herbie Hancock
Dizzy Atmosphere - Dizzy Gillespie
Dont Blame Me - Jimmy Mchugh
Georgia On My Mind - Ray Charles
I Should Care - Sammy Cahn
Ill Be Seeing You - Sammy Fain
Ill Be Around - Alec Wilder
Long Gone Blues - Billie Holiday
Solitude - Duke Ellington
Someone To Watch Over Me - George Gerschwin
Taking A Chance On Love - Vernon Duke
Willow Weep For Me - Ann Ronell
So What - Miles Davis
Thats All - Bob Haymes
Younger Than Springtime - Rodgers & Hammerstein