Welsh tenor Dafydd Jones was a member of the Bayerische Staatsoper Opernstudio (2026) where his highlights have included Remendado Carmen, Dichter Das Jagdgewehr, Un Payson La Fille du régiment, Guiseppe La Traviata and Covered Tamino Die Zauberflöte.
This season Dafydd will make house and role debuts as First Jew Salome at Polish National Opera, as Der Narr Wozzeck at Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Florence, and the role of Little Bat Maclean Susannah at Theatre St Gallen. Further ahead, Dafydd will make his debut at Irish National Opera and has been reinvited back to the Bayerische Staatsoper.
25/26 saw Dafydd sing Der Verteidiger in Der Englische Katze, Gefangener in Beethoven’s Fidelio and Dritter Knappe in Parsifal at the Bayerische Staatsoper. He also returned to Garsington Opera to sing Telemaco in John Caird’s production of Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d'Ulisse.
Other highlights on the operatic stage include his debut in the title role of Albert Herring for Opera North and Fenton Falstaff at the Verbier Festival. He also recently covered the role of Tamino in Die Zauberflöte for Glyndebourne Opera Festival. In 2022, Dafydd made his international debut as Clotarco in Armida for the Bregenzer Festspiele; and his role and festival debut as Pastore in John Caird’s production of Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo for Garsington Opera as an Alvarez Young Artist. Other operatic roles include Don Ottavio Don Giovanni (OPRA Cymru); Earl Torlloller Iolanthe (cover, English National Opera); title role in Orpheus in the Underworld (Royal College of Music International Opera Studio).
A finalist in both the Neue Stimmen and Vienna Opera Competition (2026), Dafydd won second place and received the early music prize at the 2026 Josep Palet International singing competition. He also won Pendine International Voice of the Future 2026 at the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod and in 2024 won the Gold Medal of the Royal Overs-seas League Music Competition at the Wigmore Hall and the Lies Askonas competition at the Royal College of Music. He was awarded the Ferrier Loveday Song Prize in the finals of the 2023 Kathleen Ferrier Competition with pianist Caroline Dowdle. In the summer of 2021, Dafydd won the Prix Thierry Mermod at the Verbier Festival as a member of the Academy Atelier Lyrique.
As a keen song enthusiast, Dafydd joined the 2023 French Song Exchange programme at the Wigmore Hall. Dafydd was a Young Artist at the 2021 Leeds Lieder Festival, a member of the 2021 Academy Atelier Lyrique at the Verbier Festival and made his debut at the 2021 Oxford Lieder Festival. He is also proud to be a Samling Artist.
Dafydd Jones is a graduate of the Royal College of Music International Opera Studio where he studied with Nicky Spence and Caroline Dowdle. He previously graduated with a masters degree at the Royal College of Music, where he was awarded the Queen Mother Rose Bowl.
Dafydd would like to acknowledge the generous support he received as an Aldama Scholar, supported by the Ivor Llewellyn Foster Scholarship at the College. He is also supported by the Amaryllis Fleming Foundation and Geoff and Val Richards.
September 2026
https://www.dafyddjonestenor.com
