When eleven year-old Reggie Mobley first played a Bach prelude and fugue in his school band, he was completely transfixed. “It was the fugue in that Bach piece that just completely arrested me,” he said. “I'd never heard anything like that before.”
Years later, Mobley, now a leading American countertenor, looks back on that day as a watershed moment in what flowered as a thriving career on both sides of the Atlantic. Noted for his ‘shimmering voice’ (BachTrack), he is highly sought after to sing baroque, classical and modern repertoire. In addition to singing, Mobley became the first ever programming consultant for the Handel & Haydn Society, and he also holds the position of Visiting Artist for Diversity Outreach with the Baroque ensemble Apollo’s Fire.
In this wide-ranging conversation with WXXI’s Brenda Tremblay, Mobley shares his story and sheds light on the life of Ignatius Sancho, a remarkable composer born into slavery in the British colonies.
On Sunday, March 27th he’ll appear with Pegasus Early Music in Rochester to sing music of Handel, Ignatius Sancho, and others. (Click here for more information.)