David Wilson-Johnson read Modern Languages at Cambridge University and studied singing at the Royal Academy of Music. He sang many rôles at Covent Garden over 21 years, and in Amsterdam, Brussels, Geneva, Madrid, Turin, Paris, Rome and Salzburg. His happiest concerts have been with the world’s finest orchestras and conductors, including David Atherton, Pierre Boulez, Frans Brüggen, Colin Davis, Charles Dutoit, Carlo Maria Giulini, Mariss Jansons, Neeme Järvi, Charles Mackerras, Kurt Masur, Kenneth Montgomery, Simon Rattle and Gennadi Rozhdestvensky.
His most notable stage rôles have included those of King Priam in Tippett’s opera, Merlin in the opera by Albéniz, The Nose by Shostakovich and Saint François d’Assise by Messiaen. Recordings include Winterreise with David Owen Norris and over 150 CDs of music of all periods and styles. His concerts and recitals continue with return visits to the orchestras of Amsterdam, Antwerp, Basel, Boston, Budapest, Dresden, Glasgow, Helsinki, London, Madrid, Munich, Philadelphia, Sydney, Tokyo and Zurich.
He now directs the Dutch National Youth Choir, teaches in Amsterdam and runs the Summer Singing school he founded thirty years ago at Ferrandou in the Dordogne Valley.