David Hansen was born in Sydney, Australia. He studied singing with Andrew Dalton at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and furthered his studies with James Bowman and David Harper.

In 2004, David made his European début for the Aix-en-Provence Festival in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. Shortly thereafter, he made his UK début in concerts with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra under the baton of Emmanuelle Haïm, as well as performing the title-role in Handel’s Fernando under Alan Curtis for the Spoleto Festival, Italy.

Other operatic engagements include the American premiere of Thomas Adès’ The Tempest (Alan Gilbert/Santa Fe Opera), Bertarido in Rodelinda (Alan Curtis/Bilbao), Giulio Cesare(René Jacobs/Theater an der Wien; Rinaldo Alessandrini/Den Norske Opera; Andreas Spering/Teatro de la Maestranza de Sevilla), L’Orfeo (Jacobs/Deutsche Staatsoper-Berlin), Semele (Christophe Rousset/Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie), Nerone in L’incorinazione di Poppea (Antonio Florio/Teatro Calderón), Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre for Den Norske Opera, the title-role in Hasse’s Piramo e Tisbe (Musikfestspiele Potsdam Sanssouci), the title-role in Bontempi’s Il Paride (Christina Pluhar/Innsbruck Festival of Early Music), Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro (Teatro Verdi di Sassari), and Ottone in Vivaldi’s Griselda and the title-role in Cavalli’s Giasone (Pinchgut Opera).

Concert highlights include Carmina Burana with the Berliner Philharmoniker and Sir Simon Rattle, the title-role in Solomonwith René Jacobs and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, St John Passion with Les Musiciens du Louvre Grenoble under Marc Minkowski, Messiah under Fabio Biondi, the title-role in Giulio Cesare with Emmanuelle Haïm and Le Concert d’Astrée, Britten’s Canticles at the Wiener Konzerthaus and concerts with Nathalie Stutzmann and Orfeo 55, Leif Ove Andsnes and the Brodsky Quartet.

David’s début solo recording for Sony/Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, Rivals – Arias for Farinelli & Co., with Academia Montis Regalis and Alessandro De Marchi was released in August 2013 to critical acclaim. His other recordings include Purcell: Music For Queen Mary, with the Academy of Ancient Music and the choir of King’s College Cambridge, available on EMI Classics, as well as Ottone in Griselda and Giasone, both recorded for Pinchgut Opera Live.

David’s engagements in the 2016/2017 season include his return to Den Norske Opera as Orfeo in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridiceunder Rinaldo Alessandrini, concerts with the Brodsky Quartet, Handel’s Parnasso in Festa under Andrea Marcon, and Didymus in Handel’s Theodora for the Händel-Festspiele Karlsruhe. 

David has appeared as Ottone in Griselda (2011), Giasone in Giasone (2013) and sang the role of Arbace in Hasse's Artaserse for Pinchgut in 2018.