Welsh bass-baritone Sir Bryn Terfel has established an extraordinary career, performing regularly on the prestigious concert stages and opera houses of the world.
After winning the Song Prize at the 1989 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World, Sir Bryn made his professional operatic debut in 1990 as Guglielmo in Così fan tutte with Welsh National Opera. He made his international operatic debut in 1991 as Speaker in Die Zauberflöte at the Théâtre de la Monnaie, Brussels and made his American debut in the same year as Figaro with Santa Fe Opera. Other roles performed during his career include Méphistophélès in Faust, both the Title Role and Leporello in Don Giovanni, Jochanaan in Salome, the Title Role in Gianni Schicchi, Nick Shadow in The Rake’s Progress, Wolfram in Tannhäuser, Balstrode in Peter Grimes and Four Villains in Les contes d’Hoffmann.
Recent opera performances include Dulcamara in L’Elisir d’amore at the Royal Opera House and Vienna Staatsoper, Sweeney Todd at Zurich Opera and his role debut in the title-role of Rachmaninov’s Aleko, in double bill with Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, again singing the title-role for Grange Opera.
Other operatic highlights to date include his debut in the role of Hans Sachs in the critically acclaimed production of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg for Welsh National Opera, Wotan in The Ring Cycle at the Royal Opera House and the Metropolitan Opera, New York, his debut in the role of Reb Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof for Grange Park Opera and Sweeney Todd for English National Opera.
Recent concert highlights include his Brazilian debut with the Mozarteum Brasileiro Academic Orchestra in São Paulo, a Wagner gala with the Buenos Aires Philharmonic at the iconic Teatro Colón, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig, and Antonio Pappano’s farewell concert at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden. He also appeared in recital with his wife, harpist Hannah Stone, and pianist Annabel Thwaite at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and Carnegie Hall in New York. Upcoming engagements include a concert performance of Tosca at the Shanghai Festival, Belshazzar’s Feast with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Adam Hickox, Elijah with the Oxford Philharmonic, and recitals at the Hamburg Opera and the Klagenfurt Festival. In 2000, Bryn founded the Faenol Festival (Gŵyl Y Faenol) near his hometown in North Wales, celebrating a wide range of music including opera, classical, and popular genres. The festival ran for nine years and became a beloved cultural event in the region.
Highlights of the 2024-25 season include the role of Scarpia in Tosca at the Bayerische Staatsoper, Royal Opera House, and The Met. He will also return to the Vienna Staatsoper for productions of Fidelio, L'elisir d'amore, and The Barber of Seville, before concluding the season with Gianni Schicchi at the Verbier Festival.
Sir Bryn is a Grammy, Classical Brit and Gramophone Award winner with a discography encompassing operas of Mozart, Wagner and Strauss, and more than fifteen solo discs including Lieder, American musical theatre, Welsh songs and sacred repertory.
Bryn was made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) for his services to Opera in 2003, was awarded the Queen’s Medal for Music in 2006, received a knighthood for his services to music in 2017, was honoured with the title of Austrian Kammersänger for his services to the Wiener Staatsoper and awarded a European Cultural Award at the Tonhalle, Zurich, in recognition of his extraordinary music career in 2022. He was the last recipient of the Shakespeare Prize by the Alfred Toepfer Foundation and in 2015, he was given The Freedom of the City of London.
September 2024
