John Shea was born in Kingston-upon-Thames and studied at the Royal College of Music (Junior Department), Cambridge University and the Royal Academy of Music. In 2001 he completed an MMus at London University. He has worked for most of the major opera companies in Britain and Ireland, including fifteen years at the Wexford Festival and several recent seasons with English Touring Opera. Engagements abroad have included festivals in Aix-en-Provence, Montepulciano, Batignano and Zezere, the Banff Centre in Canada and Teatr Wielki in Warsaw, where he played for last year’s Polish premiere of Thomas Adès’ Powder Her Face. He also works for the BBC, reading the news on the World Service and presenting Radio 3 Through the Night.