Born in Keighley, West Yorkshire, Neil Baker studied at the Royal Northern College of Music where he was the recipient of all the major song prizes. Neil continued his studies in London at the Royal College of Music, and later in Amsterdam with Margreet Honig.

Neil's extensive repertoire includes Bach's B minor Mass, St Matthew Passion and St John Passion, Elgar's Dream of Gerontius, Mendelssohn's St Paul and Elijah, the Requiem Masses of Mozart, Brahms, Fauré, Duruflé and Verdi, Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle, and Dvorak's Stabat Mater. Recent performances include Handel's Messiah with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Britten's Cantata Misericordium at St John's Smith Square, Mozart's Requiem in Portugal with Japp ter Linden, a recital at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, the baritone solos in Purcell's Hail Bright Cecilia with Marc Minkowski and Les Musiciens du Louvre at the Barbican, the Salle Pleyel in Paris, in Brussels, Grenoble and at the Salzburg Festival; recorded and released on the Naive label in 2009.

"Dear Sara, I just wanted to drop you a line to say how completely and utterly thrilled my family and I were at Neil's performance yesterday at my mothers Memorial Service - he was stunning and his voice was just amazing and he made a hymn that was so special to my mother and grandfather even more poignant. He had barely started singing when I broke and the tears started falling, it was truly beautiful and I thank you both from the bottom of my heart for making the service just that little bit more special for mummy. Kindest regards, Stephanie" (Solo Baritone, Memorial Service -Westerham, Kent)

As an interpreter of contemporary music Neil has worked with Hans Werner Henze when he sang the role of the Father in his opera Pollicino, and with Nicola LeFanu, singing the role of Guy in her opera The Green Children.

Neil's other operatic roles include Aeneas in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, Marco in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi, Count Almaviva in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, Escamillo in Bizet's Carmen, Demetrius in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Araspe in Handel's Tolomeo and the role of Melisso in Handel's Alcina for English Touring Opera.