Shore was born in Oldham, Lancashire. He studied at the University of Bristol, the Royal Northern College of Music and the London Opera Centre. In 1976 he married Fiona Macdonald 1976; they have three daughters.[1] Shore sang with Opera For All from 1977 to 1979.[1] In 1981 he appeared with Kent Opera, for whom over the next six years he played buffo roles such as Antonio the gardener in The Marriage of Figaro and Dr Bartolo in The Barber of Seville. For Opera North he has sung a wide range of roles, from comic (Don Pasquale, Don Jerome in the first British production of Roberto Gerhard's The Duenna, Falstaff and Gianni Schicchi) to serious (Mr Flint in Billy Budd, and Wozzeck).[2] For English National Opera, Shore has played a similar range of parts, including Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte, Dulcamara in The Elixir of Love and a role with which he is particularly associated, Verdi's Falstaff. In modern works he has played Doeg in the British premiere of Philip Glass's The Making of the Representative for Planet 8,the title role in Tippett's King Priam and George Wilson in John Harbison's The Great Gatsby'.'[2][3] Shore made his Covent Garden debut in 1992, playing Baron Trombonok in Il viaggio a Reims. His most recent Covent Garden appearances were as Don Inigo Gomez in L'Heure espagnole in 2007 and 2009.[4] His Paris Opéra debut was in 1995, as the Sacristan in Tosca; his US debut was in 1996, as Dulcamara at San Diego Opera.[1] For Glyndebourne he has played Baron Douphol in La traviata (1988), the Mayor in Jenůfa (1990), Mr Gedge in Albert Herring (1990), Falstaff (1990), Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte (1991), Dr Kolenaty in The Makropulos Case (1995 and 1997), Dikój in Káťa Kabanová (1998), Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro (2000 and 2012) and Krusing in The Bartered Bride.[5] In 2003 he appeared as Hans Sachs in Opéra de Nantes' production of Die Meistersinger.[1] For the Lyric Opera of Chicago he has played Falstaff, Rossini's Bartolo, Frank in Die Fledermaus, Dikój, and Pooh-Bah in The Mikado.[3] Shore has sung the role of Alberich in Der Ring des Nibelungen at Bayreuth, the Liceu, Barcelona, the Teatro Colón, Buenos Aires and other houses. In 2013 he played the seven baritone roles in Britten's Death in Venice for the ENO and the Dutch National Opera, Amsterdam.