Edwin Crossley-Mercer currently performs on some of the most prestigious opera and concert stages around the world. After studying sacred music in Versailles, he pursued studies in Opera and Lied with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau in Berlin. He made his debut in 2006 at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, notably under the direction of Daniel Barenboim in Doktor Faustus, Der Freischütz and Die lustige Witwe.
In 2009, he made his debut as Guglielmo in Così fan tutte at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, followed the following season by his debut at the Paris National Opera in R. Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos, in the role of Harlekin. Since then, he has performed in numerous works from the repertoire at the Opéra Bastille and the Palais Garnier, including Die Zauberflöte, Carmen, Arabella, The Merry Widow, La damnation de Faust, Così fan tutte, L’enfant et les sortilèges and Les Indes galantes.
His engagements have taken him to the United States (Manon by J. Massenet and Le nozze di Figaro), Japan (Béatrice et Bénédicte), South America (Don Giovanni in Chile), as well as throughout Europe and Russia. His repertoire spans the Baroque period, including Hippolyte et Aricie, Les Boréades and Platée by J.-P. Rameau, as well as operas by J.-B. Lully; the Classical repertoire of W. A. Mozart and J. Haydn; Rossini, with La Cenerentola, Guillaume Tell and Moïse et Pharaon; Puccini, with Tosca, Madama Butterfly and La Bohème; as well as contemporary works.
His particular affinity for oratorio and recital has always been an essential part of his musical life. From Carnegie Hall in New York to Paris, from the “Folles Journées” festivals in Nantes and Tokyo to Montevideo and Saint Petersburg, he performs Lieder and mélodies alongside numerous collaborative pianists and works with prestigious orchestras, including the Berliner Philharmoniker, Wiener Symphoniker, Orchestre National de France, Los Angeles Philharmonic and London Symphony Orchestra.
A recipient of the HSBC Foundation Award in 2007 and First Prize at the Nadia and Lili Boulanger Competition, he has been nominated twice for Grammy Awards. He has recorded numerous works from the Baroque repertoire, as well as mélodies by Nadia Boulanger, for Delos.
He collaborates with American composer Michael Linton, with whom he has recorded two albums, Carmina Catulli and Songs of Oscar Wilde. Accompanied by Yoan Héreau, Die Winterreise by Franz Schubert marks Edwin Crossley-Mercer’s first recording dedicated to the Lied repertoire.
The 2021 season was marked by his return to the Bayerische Staatsoper for Così fan tutte, Tosca, Il signor Bruschino and König Lear. He performed Dido and Aeneas with the Coro e Orquestra Gulbenkian, followed by revivals of Platée and Peter Grimes at the Theater an der Wien. He also sang Guglielmo in Così fan tutte at the Vlaamse Opera and Don Alfonso at the Opernhaus Zürich. He had the honour of performing at the Concert de Paris as part of the 14 July 2021 celebrations.
Recent engagements include Osiride in Rossini’s Moïse et Pharaon at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence in 2022 and at the Opéra de Lyon, where he also covered the title role of Moïse. In 2023, he performed Bitterolf in Wagner’s Tannhäuser at the Salzburg Easter Festival under the direction of Andris Nelsons, as well as Count Oberthal in Meyerbeer’s Le Prophète as part of a series of concerts at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence.
His debut with the Korean National Symphony Orchestra (KNSO) as Friar Laurence in Berlioz’s Roméo et Juliette followed his performances in Beethoven’s Fidelio at the Opéra de Dijon. In 2024, he returned to the Opernhaus Zürich as Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte. Upcoming engagements include two European opera tours featuring Handel’s Jeptha and Hercules, as well as Lully’s Armide at the Opéra-Comique in Paris.
In 2021, Edwin Crossley-Mercer was appointed Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and founded the Castel Artès Festival and Academy in southern France with dancer Vincent Chaillet. The festival brings together creativity and education through a series of concerts and dance performances.
Also trained as a conductor, he has conducted performances of G. Fauré’s Requiem, W. A. Mozart’s Requiem, G. B. Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, M. Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges and H. Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas.