Biography

Alfie Giovanni Roncalli Boe was born 33 years ago in Blackpool, a seaside town in the north east of England. The day he arrived in to the world his parents moved the family to nearby Fleetwood. As the youngest of 9 children, little did Alfie’s parents know that the baby of the family would grow up to be one of the finest British tenors of his generation.

His mother of Irish and father of Norwegian descent respectively, loved classical music. On Sundays the family would sit around the dining table whilst Alfie’s father would listen to his favourite tenor, Richard Tauber. Alfie would sit patiently waiting to be excused so he could go and play football. Many years later he realised the immense effect those Sunday afternoons would have on his life.

Chapter One

At 14, encouraged by his sister, “and the possibility of meeting girls”, Alfie joined an amateur operatic society. The first week he got as far as the front door, but nerves got the better of him and he turned around and went home. The second week his trip was more successful and stepping through the door he entered a whole new world. His love affair with opera had begun.
 
In his late teens Alfie took a job as an apprentice mechanic at the local TVR sports car factory in Blackpool. During the day he was shunted to the corner of the factory and left alone to listen to his beloved classical music. He would, quite often, entertain his workmates by singing his favourite arias and it was on one of those occasions that he was overheard by a customer. The gentleman worked in the music industry and suggested that he should go to the D’Oyly Carte touring company who were auditioning for new members. Out of over 1,000 hopefuls Alfie landed the job.

He toured the length and breadth of the country with the company, but his desire to learn more compelled him to move to London and enlist at The Royal College of Music. After graduating he continued his studies at the National Opera Studio and then went on to the Royal Opera House Young Artist’s Programme. It was when Alfie was at the ROH that he received a call that was to change his plans. Baz Luhrmann, who had spent two years looking for one of the leads for his controversial Broadway production of Puccini’s La Boheme, approached Alfie for the role. Luhrmann noted, “We came to London to hear a young tenor called Alfie Boe who turned out to be absolutely extraordinary. I couldn’t believe the luck we had.” Alfie jumped at the chance to work with Luhrmann and his leap of faith lead him to winning a Tony Award which sits beside his John McCormack Young Voice and Lyric Tenor of the World Audience awards.

He toured the U.S. with La Boheme and fell in love with the country. He met and made many friends in New York and one person he will always be eternally grateful to is vocal teacher Bill Schumann. “He’s the guy that changed my whole approach to singing. He not only opened my ears but my eyes too,” Alfie reveals.

Chapter Two

In early 2006 Alfie signed to the label Classic FM Presents, a label designed to act as a springboard for fresh, new talent. The label was an offshoot of the biggest Classical radio station in Europe. Alfie’s eponymous debut album was released in November 2006 to a fanfare of acclaim and established Alfie, not only as a firm favourite of Classic FM listeners, but also grabbed the attention of the classical world.

In January, of the following year, Alfie signed to one of the oldest Classical labels in the world, EMI. Within less than 3 months his second album, ‘Onward’, was released. The album was recorded with the renowned Royal Liverpool Orchestra. Not only was Alfie delighted to be performing works by British composers such as John Rutter and Karl Jenkins but to have them write special arrangements for the album was beyond his wildest dreams. Howard Goodall also stepped up to write a special arrangement for ‘The Lord Is My Shepherd’. ‘Onward’ went straight to No.1 in the UK classical chart and established Alfie as a household name in the UK.

Alfie enjoys the recording process, and for him, it helps take his beloved opera to the masses, but he’s never far from an opera house. In 2007 saw him touring the UK and Ireland and also performing in a sell out run of Kismet for the English National Opera at The Coliseum, London.

Chapter Three

2007 proved an extremely busy year for Alfie. After the release of ‘Onward’ he went straight on tour. He was also nominated for a Classical Brit Award for ‘Best Album’ sharing the category with Sir Paul McCartney and Sting; he performed at the Royal Albert Hall with Lesley Garratt and Sir Willard White and graciously accepted the role as Ambassador for HRH’s Arts and Kids Foundation which saw him performing at Clarence House for Prince Charles.

In late 2007 Alfie released ‘La Passione’, the second album release of that year. The album, which Boe had longed to record, is a collection of traditional, mainly Italian folk songs that have stood up to the test of time. The repertoire includes ‘O Sole Mio’, ‘Funiculi Finicula’, ‘Santa Lucia’ and the wonderful ‘Caruso’.  “The songs featured on ‘La Passione’ have been passed through many generations. They are songs of the street musician, the cantautore and the social protester. They are instinctive songs about loves lost and won, about grief and about the agony of leaving home – ‘per la gente’ written by the people for the people,” Alfie explains.