Urs Bühler

Urs Toni Bühler (born 19 July 1971 in Willisau, Lucerne, Switzerland) is a classically trained Swiss tenor. He is a member of the classical crossover group Il Divo, who have sold over 30 million copies worldwide discs.[1]

Urs Bühler
Bühler in 2016
Background information
Birth nameUrs Toni Bühler
Born (1971-07-19) July 19, 1971
Willisau, Lucerne, Switzerland
GenresClassical crossover; Opera; romantic; Rock
Occupation(s)Musician
Years active2000–present
LabelsSyco Music, Sony BMG, Columbia Records
Associated actsIl Divo
Urs signature.

Career

Early life

His musical training started at the age of five, when Bühler began singing in a choir and also learned to play violin, clarinet, piano, guitar, and drums. His musical career, though, started when he was fifteen in an entirely different genre from lyrical song. He was a member of a cover band and later the lead singer of a heavy metal band called "Conspiracy" when he was seventeen years old in Luzern.

Tenor

At that time, he was already receiving music lessons at the Academy for School and Church Music.[2] His progress in the field led him to move to Amsterdam in the Netherlands, where he studied voice at Sweelinck Conservatorium with Udo Reinemann, a well-known German baritone. Under the private tutoring of Swedish tenor Gösta Winbergh of the Royal Swedish Opera and French tenor Christian Papis, Urs enriched his classical repertoire. He sang in the choir of the Dutch opera and performed in the Salzburg Festival under the direction of Claudio Abbado. Before joining Il Divo, he was mainly based in the Netherlands, singing oratorios and performing with the Netherlands Opera Gezelschap (NOG).[3] Despite many performances there are only a handful of recordings available of him before Il Divo.

Il Divo
Main article: Il Divo

In December 2003, Urs became a member of the international musical quartet Il Divo along with Carlos Marín (Spain), Sébastien Izambard (France), and David Miller (United States). He had an informal first audition with the group's creator, Simon Cowell. In Cowell's office, he simply asked Urs to sing for him unaccompanied. Impressed by Buhler's tenor voice, Cowell offered him a place in Il Divo. Their first album, Il Divo, became a worldwide multi-platinum selling record when released in November 2004, entering Billboard at number four and selling five million copies worldwide in less than a year and knocking Robbie Williams from the number one spot in the charts. Their second album, Ancora, was released on November 7, 2005 in the United Kingdom. Il Divo's third album Siempre was released on November 21, 2006 in the United States and on November 27, 2006 internationally. Their fourth album, The Promise, was released on November 10, 2008 (world) and November 18, 2008 (US), and shot straight to number 1 in the UK.

Discography

The Conspiracy
  • Studio album
  1. 1991 – One to One

Il Divo
Main article: Il Divo
  • Studio album:
  1. 2004 – Il Divo
  2. 2005 – Ancora
  3. 2006 – Siempre
  4. 2008 – The Promise
  5. 2011 – Wicked Game
  6. 2013 – A Musical Affair
  7. 2015 – Amor & Pasión
  8. 2018 – Timeless
  • Seasonal album
  1. 2005 – The Christmas Collection
  • Compilations:
  1. 2012 – The Greatest Hits
  • Live Album:
  1. 2009 – An Evening with Il Divo: Live in Barcelona
  2. 2014 – Live in Japan
  • Special Editions:
  1. 2005 – Il Divo. Gift Edition[4]
  2. 2006 – Il Divo Collezione[5]
  3. 2006 – Christmas Collection. The Yule Log[6]
  4. 2008 – The Promise. Luxury Edition[7]
  5. 2011 – Wicked Game. Gift Edition[8]
  6. 2011 – Wicked Game. Limited Edition Deluxe Box Set[9]
  7. 2012 – The Greatest Hits. Deluxe Limited Edition[10]
  8. 2014 – A Musical Affair. Exclusive[11]
  9. 2014 – A Musical Affair. French Version[12]
  10. 2014 – Live in Japan. Japan Versión[13]

Videography

Il Divo
  1. 2004 – Live At Gotham Hall
  2. 2005 – Encore
  3. 2005 – Mamá[14]
  4. 2006 – The Yule Log: The Christmas Collection [15]
  5. 2006 – Live At the Greek Theater
  6. 2008 – At the Coliseum
  7. 2009 – An Evening with Il Divo: Live in Barcelona
  8. 2011 – Live in London
  9. 2014 – Live In Japan

Performances
  • Ba-ta-clan. Opera Minora. Festival Aan Zee in Noordwijk. May 23, 2001.
  • Der Vogelhändler (plays leading role, Adam). Nieuwstad Operette in Nieuwegein. November, 2002.
  • Eine Nacht in Venedig (plays leading role, Caramello). Nieuwstad Operette in Nieuwegein. November 7, 2003.
  • Johannes Passion. Oude Kerk, Delft. With Philharmonisch Koor Toonkunst Rotterdam. April 17, 2003.

References
  1. "Il Divo crowned Silver Clef winners". 23 March 2015.
  2. Fame & Fortune: UK taxes drive Swiss opera star cuckoo
  3. "Urs Divo Buhler".
  4. http://www.ildivo.com/ (ed.). "IL DIVO GIFT PACK". Archived from the original on 2015-09-23. Retrieved 2014-12-26.
  5. lahiguera.net (ed.). "SE PUBLICA IL DIVO COLLEZIONE. Incluirá los CDs: Il divo, Ancora y The Christmas Collection, y el DVD Encore".
  6. http://www.ildivo.com/ (ed.). "Christmas Collection. The Yule Log (DVD)". Archived from the original on 2014-12-07.
  7. http://www.ildivo.com/ (ed.). "IL DIVO The Promisse Edition Especial".
  8. http://www.ildivo.com/ (ed.). "IL DIVO JUEGO PERVERSO". Archived from the original on 2015-04-02.
  9. http://www.ildivo.com/ (ed.). "IL DIVO en edición especial limitada de Wicked game". Archived from the original on 2015-04-02.
  10. "THE GREATEST HITS – DELUXE LIMITED EDITION". Archived from the original on 2015-09-23. Retrieved 2015-08-25.
  11. "A MUSICAL AFFAIR – EXCLUSIVE (DELUXE GIFT EDITION CD/DVD & 2014 CALENDAR)". Archived from the original on 2015-04-02.
  12. www.ildivo.com, ed. (2014). "Il Divo pública 'A Musical Affair. French Versión'". Archived from the original on 2015-08-04.
  13. www.ildivo.com, ed. (24 September 2014). "Un año después del lanzamiento de su exito álbum inspirado en musicales clásicos, Il Divo vuelve a la carga con una edición muy especial de 'A Musical Affair". Archived from the original on 10 September 2015.
  14. www.ildivo.com (ed.). "Videoclip de Mamá, de Il Divo".
  15. www.ildivo.com (ed.). "Il Divo pública 'Christmas Collection. The Yule Log'". Archived from the original on 2014-12-07.
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