Biography
Benedict Kearns is a British conductor and Chorus Master based in Europe. Since 2022, he has led the Chorus of the Opéra national de Lyon, combining a senior position at one of France’s major opera houses with an active freelance conducting career. His conducting credits include Kurt Weill’s Die Dreigroschenoper at the Vienna Volksoper and Benjamin Britten’s Billy Budd at Lyon, where he conducted the closing performance of the 2026 run. In December 2026 and January 2027, he will conduct selected performances of Charles Lecocq’s La fille de Madame Angot at the Opéra national de Lyon, with a further engagement at the Grange Festival to be announced. He has also held chorus-master engagements at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence and the Chorégies d’Orange.
At Lyon, Benedict has prepared the chorus for a wide-ranging repertoire spanning Wagner’s Tannhäuser, Strauss’s Die Frau ohne Schatten, Berg’s Wozzeck, Janáček’s The Makropulos Case, Verdi’s La forza del destino, Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West and Britten’s Peter Grimes. His work extends from the great operatic traditions of Germany, Italy and France to contemporary music and major concert works, including Mendelssohn’s Elias in Calixto Bieito’s fully staged production under Constantin Trinks. He has also worked closely with the theatre’s former Music Director, Daniele Rustioni, on projects including Wagner’s Tannhäuser, which opened the 2022 season, Verdi’s Messa da Requiem at Nuits de Fourvière, and performances at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, broadcast on France Musique.
The quality of Benedict’s work with the Lyon chorus has received repeated recognition from critics. Reviewing Billy Budd for Operalogue, Hugh Canning singled out Kearns’s contribution as “one of the production’s notable assets”, praising the clarity of English diction achieved by a predominantly French chorus. Première Loge highlighted the ensemble’s precision and power, while Opera Online praised its combination of individual character and collective unity in Elias. These qualities are central to Benedict’s approach to chorus preparation: developing an ensemble capable of combining vocal precision, linguistic clarity and dramatic purpose with a strong sense of collective identity.
The music of Benjamin Britten is a particular thread throughout Benedict’s career. At La Monnaie in Brussels, he performed the piano solos for The Turn of the Screw in Andrea Breth’s production, streamed internationally and subsequently released on CD. At Glyndebourne, he prepared Peter Hall’s celebrated production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and at Theater Bonn he was Head Coach for Death in Venice. His engagement with Britten began during his studies at King’s College, Cambridge, where he conducted Albert Herring and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and has since encompassed professional work on The Turn of the Screw, Death in Venice, Peter Grimes and Billy Budd.
Benedict’s professional journey has encompassed conducting, répétiteur and assistant-conducting work across leading British and European opera institutions. He has worked as assistant conductor with Royal Northern Sinfonia, English National Opera, Welsh National Opera and Scottish Opera, and served as Junior Fellow Répétiteur at the Royal Northern College of Music before becoming a Young Artist at the National Opera Studio in London. At Theater Bonn, he worked as assistant conductor and répétiteur across productions spanning Humperdinck, Mozart, Puccini, Verdi, Handel and Britten. His early conducting credits also include Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte at the Royal Northern College of Music, Donizetti’s La Fille du régiment with Opera della Luna and The Pirates of Penzance at the International Gilbert & Sullivan Festival.
Raised in London, Benedict began his musical life as Head Chorister at Westminster Abbey, singing regularly for the Royal Family and at state occasions, as well as participating in international tours and recordings. He subsequently played keyboard with the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain and sang with the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain. At King’s College, Cambridge, where he studied music as an undergraduate, he was a Baritone Choral Scholar in the Choir under Sir Stephen Cleobury, participating in extensive international tours, broadcasts and recordings. His experience as a singer, pianist, répétiteur and conductor continues to inform his work in the opera house, from the rehearsal room to the podium.