David William Hughes (b.1990) is a singer, conductor, performer, composer, multi-instrumentalist and researcher whose work combines music with comedy and historical research. David William Hughes made his international debut at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 2017 and subsequently completed Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Music at the University of Oxford. David lived and worked from 2014 to 2020 in Boston, where he made a name for himself as an innovative und entertaining performer, singer and conductor. David has performed with many different ensemble and solo projects to critical accalaim across the USA, UK, Australia, Israel, Italy, Switzerland, Sweden and Germany. He is now based in Freiburg, where he is a doctoral student at the Musikhochshule, working with Prof. Dr. Felix Diergarten.
RETRO COUNTRY JAZZ RENAISSANCE
In in show about nostalgia and the search for authenticity, David sings Country, Jazz and Renaissance songs with a retro twist. This show includes material from the album Come Again, and can be performed as a solo act, duo, or with full band.
Showcase Freiburg
David William Hughes and the House Band of the Jazz-Rock-Schule Freiburg present the best of Freiburg’s music and performance acts in the Auditorium of the Jazz-Rock-Schule. In the style of a late-night TV show with guests, games and great music, Showcase Freiburg is a unique event on the Freiburg Scene.
This project is sponsored by the Jazz-Rock-Schule Freiburg, Regionet, the Kulturamt Freiburg and the Carl-Schurz-Haus.
Come Again
In the 1950s and 60s pop music came of age. At the same time, classical musicians were rediscovering and reinterpreting early music. The album Come Again is a thought experiment: what if those pop musicians had also discovered early music?
Featuring songs by composers such as John Dowland, Estêvão de Brito and Thomas Tallis, this is Early Music as you’ve never heard it before. Come Again is funded by a grant from the Ministry of Arts and Research, Baden-Württemberg, and will be released in April 2023.
You can buy the album here.
The Music of Estêvão de Brito
The Music Estêvão de Brito (c.1575-1641) is the title of my doctoral dissertation, which I am writing under the supervision of Prof. Felix Diergarten at the Musikhochschule Freiburg. This project is supported by the Landesgraduiertenförderung Baden-Württemberg.
Voices intakt
David has been the director of the 60-voice women chorus Voices inTakt since 2024. For more information, please visit the choir’s own website here.
La SErva Padrona
Since 2020 Coronavirus threatens to kill opera! Can David save it with his one-man production of La Serva Padrona? Baroque meets Funk as the social order is turned upside down in this new English version of Pergolesi’s 1733 comic masterpiece.
In 2021-2022, La Serva Padrona played in Uppsala, Hamburg, Edinburgh, and Freiburg. This project was funded by a grant from the Ministry of Arts and Research, Baden-Württemberg.
Elizabethan
Tobias Bacon died of Love in 1618. Join him on the 400th anniversary of his death as he finds out how.
Elizabethan is “a hoot, a bawdy entertainment, and a display of consummate musicality that brings tears to the eyes” (ScotsGay Arts). A brand new one-man musical comedy in which all the songs are 400 years old, this show is “jovial, jesting… laden with Elizabethan innuendo” (The Scotsman), “pleasingly silly and skilfully written… an hilarious creation” (Fringe Guru). “Whether you come for the music (executed masterfully), the promise of scholarly puns a-plenty (literature students, get your thinking caps on), or you are simply seeking some genuinely funny character comedy, there is something for everyone at Elizabethan” (The 730 Review).
Elizabethan has played in Boston, New York, Cambridge, London, Edinburgh and Adelaide.
WIT & MIRTH
In 1698 Thomas d’Urfey published the smash-hit book of comic songs “Wit & Mirth”. David William Hughes sings some of them, some of his own, and some of yours which he’ll make up for you.
Thomas d’Urfey’s “Wit & Mith, or Pills to Purge Melancholy” was first published in 1698 and was so popular that it sold out every printing, and was eventually expanded to a six-volume set. This show presents the best of d’Urfey’s marvellously funny songs, newly written songs inspired by them, and freshly improvised songs based on suggestions from the audience.
Wit and Mirth played in 2019 in Boston, Cambridge, London and Edinburgh.
Songs of Sadness, Satire, and Seduction
Songs of Sadness, Satire, and Seduction is a recital program of English songs for lute and voice from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, combining historically informed performance with storytelling. This program showcases the wit, narratives, and different perspectives of the songs, and the range and versatility of the solo voice.
This program has played in Boston, Somerville, Winchester, Haifa and Tel Aviv.
Tactus Ensemble
Tactus Ensemble is a mixed-voice chamber choir specialising in early music and based in Cambridge, MA. The group aims to make early music accessible through innovative programming, and free concerts. Praised for their “splendidly illuminated” and “viscerally satisfying” performances (Boston Musical Intelligencer), David directed the group from 2014-2020. For more information, please visit Tactus Ensemble’s own website.