As a specialist in the field of contemporary vocal music he has worked throughout Europe, and has participated in many first performances of new work: Beat Furrer – “…für Stimme allein” (Oper Bonn/Konzerthaus Wien); Gerhard Winkler – “Heptameron” (Münchener Biennale); Peter Maxwell Davies – “Mr. Emmet Takes a Walk” (Düsseldorf – German premiere); Christian Utz – “Zersplitterung”/ “Telinga mulut“ (EarPort Duisburg/Jakarta); Gerhard Stäbler – “Letzte Dinge” (Trier).
A highlight of his work in this field was being invited to sing the song-cycle ‘Umsungen’ by Wolfgang Rihm with Ensemble Recherche in the Wiener Musikverein.
For many years he was closely associated with the Garden Venture, a programme for the promotion of new music-theatre works at the Royal Opera House, both in London and at the Dartington Summer School.
Alongside his activities as a concert-singer and recitalist, he has been a leading interpreter of the role of George III in Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’ “Eight Songs for a Mad King”. He has sung the role in many European cities with Ensemble Recherche: Venice (Teatro la Fenice), Vienna (Wien Modern), Paris (Théâtre de la Colline – Radio France), Frankfurt (Hessischer Rundfunk), Cracow (Sacrum & Profanum Festival), Freiburg and Rusa, and in Israel with the Israel Contemporary Players. In October 2007 he sang the piece with Notabu Ensemble in the Tonhalle in Düsseldorf.
In May 2005 he was one of the two singers in “Europera 5” by John Cage, at the Prinz-Regent Theatre in Bochum, and in September 2006 he sang the world premiere of Gerhard Stäbler’s “Nachmittagssonne” in Seoul. In October 2009 he sang in two concerts celebrating Gerhard Stäbler’s 60th birthday in the Tonh lle in Düsseldorf, and with the Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra.
He has also regularly sung in the ‘Acht Brücken’ Festival for contemporary music in Cologne, and a close connection with Cologne contemporary music ensemble MusikFabrik culminated in February 2020 with a programme of works by Mauricio Kagel, as well as a reconstruction of his piece “Ludwig van” (Beethovenhaus Bonn). He has been a regular guest in the Opening Festival in the city of Trier for many years.
Martin Lindsay has been a guest teacher at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance, and has taught at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz in Cologne regularly for many years. Here, he leads a class for English Song & Aria Repertoire, as well as maintaining his own vocal class. His teaching is broadly based on the work of Frederick Husler and Cornelius Reid, and sets the combination of optimal vocal function with the highest possible artistic and musical attainment as its chief priority.
