Welsh bass-baritone Sir Bryn Terfel has forged an extraordinary international career, performing regularly on the world’s most prestigious concert stages and opera houses.
After winning the Song Prize at the 1989 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition, Sir Bryn made his professional operatic debut in 1990 as Guglielmo in Così fan tutte with Welsh National Opera. The following year, he made both his international operatic debut as the Speaker in Die Zauberflöte at Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels and his American debut as Figaro with Santa Fe Opera.
Throughout his distinguished career, he has performed roles such as Méphistophélès (Faust), both the title role and Leporello (Don Giovanni), Jochanaan (Salome), the title role (Gianni Schicchi), Nick Shadow (The Rake’s Progress), Wolfram (Tannhäuser), Balstrode (Peter Grimes), and the Four Villains (Les contes d’Hoffmann).
Recent operatic engagements include Scarpia in Tosca at the Bayerische Staatsoper, Royal Opera House, and The Met; Dulcamara in L’elisir d’amore and Don Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Vienna Staatsoper; and the title role in Gianni Schicchi at the Verbier Festival.
Other notable operatic highlights include his acclaimed debut as Hans Sachs in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg for Welsh National Opera, Wotan in The Ring Cycle at both the Royal Opera House and the Metropolitan Opera, his role debut as Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof for Grange Park Opera, and Sweeney Todd for English National Opera.
In concert, recent highlights include recitals at the Herbstgold Festival, Staatsoper Hamburg, Stadttheater Klagenfurt, Müpa Budapest, and Tanglewood Festival, as well as Belshazzar’s Feast with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra under Adam Hickox and a gala debut in Mexico with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería under Roberto Kalb.
Highlights of the 2024–25 season include Scarpia in Tosca at Opernhaus Zürich, as well as the title role in Boris Godunov and Captain Balstrode in Peter Grimes at the Royal Opera House. Upcoming engagements also include a concert performance of Der fliegende Holländer at Opéra de Monte-Carlo under Gianluca Marcianò, Tosca in concert with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra under Kazuki Yamada, and his debut with the Royal Northern Sinfonia under Dinis Sousa at The Glasshouse.
In 2000, Sir Bryn founded the Faenol Festival (Gŵyl y Faenol) near his hometown in North Wales, a vibrant celebration of opera, classical, and popular music that ran for nine years and became a beloved cultural fixture.
A Grammy, Classical Brit, and Gramophone Award winner, his extensive discography includes operas by Mozart, Wagner, and Strauss, along with over fifteen solo albums spanning Lieder, American musical theatre, Welsh song, and sacred repertoire.
Sir Bryn was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2003, received the Queen’s Medal for Music in 2006, and was knighted for services to music in 2017. He holds the title of Austrian Kammersänger, was the final recipient of the Shakespeare Prize by the Alfred Toepfer Foundation, and in 2022 was honoured with a European Cultural Award at the Tonhalle, Zurich. He also received the Freedom of the City of London in 2015.
August 2025
