Thomas Atkins

Atkins’ 2025–26 highlights include his highly anticipated company debut, returning to the role of Andrej Chowanskij Khovanshchina; a return to the Salzburg Easter Festival as Froh in a new production of Das Rheingold under the baton of Kirill Petrenko; and Ralph in HMS Pinafore with English National Opera. On the concert platform, he makes his debut with the Orchestre de Paris under the baton of Klaus Mäkelä as Hémon in Pascal Dusapin’s world premiere of Antigone; performs Froh Das Rheingold in concert with the Berliner Philharmoniker at the Berliner Philharmonie; appears as the tenor soloist in The Dream of Gerontius with the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra; and sings Števa in Act II of Jenůfa in concert with the Bamberg Symphony conducted by Jakub Hrůša.

Last season’s highlights included Tom Rakewell in a new production of The Rake’s Progress at the Norwegian National Opera; his role and company debut at English National Opera as Nemorino L’elisir d’amore; and his return to the Royal Opera House as Števa Jenůfa. He also returned to the Salzburg Easter Festival in the role of Andrej Chowanskij in a new production of Khovanshchina by acclaimed British actor and director Simon McBurney and made his company debut as Lensky Eugene Onegin at Semperoper Dresden. On the concert platform, he appeared as the tenor soloist in Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings with the Nürnberger Symphoniker; as the tenor soloist in Britten’s War Requiem with Fondazione Teatro Massimo di Palermo and with the Dresden Philharmonic under Sir Donald Runnicles.

Other recent operatic appearances include his role and house debut as Števa Jenůfa at Teatro de la Maestranza; Rodolfo La Bohème for his debut at Gothenburg Opera; Tom Rakewell The Rake’s Progress for his role debut at Glyndebourne; Alfredo La Traviata in Hamburg; Don José Carmen at the Opéra de Rouen Normandie; Pinkerton Madama Butterfly at the Royal Danish Opera; his role debut as Boris Káťa Kabanová at Grange Park Opera; and Narraboth Salome at the Royal Opera House. Further notable appearances include Roderigo in Amélie Niermeyer’s production of Otello at the Bayerische Staatsoper; his company debut at the Opéra national de Paris as Der Steuermann Der fliegende Holländer; appearances with the Israeli Opera and Opera Holland Park as Lensky Eugene Onegin; Tamino in a semi-staged production of Die Zauberflöte at Glyndebourne; and Kudrjaš in a new production of Káťa Kabanová, directed by Damiano Michieletto, for the Glyndebourne Festival. He has also performed Rodolfo La Bohème with Opera North, Gothenburg Opera, and New Zealand Opera; Lysander A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Opéra de Montpellier; and Gastone La Traviata at the Royal Opera House.

Highlights of recent concert engagements include performances with The Hallé and Sir Mark Elder in Verdi’s Requiem; Ensemble Pygmalion under the baton of Raphaël Pichon for a European tour of Mendelssohn’s Elijah; the Gulbenkian Choir and Orchestra conducted by Hannu Lintu for Mendelssohn’s Lobgesang; the Royal Northern Sinfonia for Bruckner’s Mass No. 3 conducted by Dinis Sousa; the Orchestre de Chambre de Genève as Tybalt Roméo et Juliette conducted by Marc Leroy-Calatayud; and the Insula Orchestra at Brucknerhaus Linz for Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 conducted by Laurence Equilbey. Other highlights include joining Marin Alsop and the London Symphony Orchestra in performances of Bernstein’s Candide; his debut with The Hallé under Sir Mark Elder as Pinkerton Madama Butterfly; appearing in the Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation Gala at Wigmore Hall; and his debut with Opera Rara as Empsaele Il Paria at the Barbican with the Britten Sinfonia under Sir Mark Elder. Further engagements include Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Richard Farnes at the Barbican; performances at the Yakushiji Otobutai in Japan with Dame Kiri Te Kanawa; excerpts from Der Rosenkavalier with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Mark Elder; Tippett’s A Child of Our Time; Mozart’s Requiem; Dubois’ The Seven Last Words of Christ; Vaughan Williams’ Mass in G Minor; Handel’s Messiah; Verdi’s Requiem; Rossini’s Stabat Mater; and opera galas in Budapest.

Atkins is a graduate of the New Zealand School of Music and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, where he was supported by the Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation and the New Zealand Arts Foundation Patronage. He was a finalist in the Guildhall School’s Gold Medal competition in 2015 and is the recipient of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama Award, the Sheila Prior Prize, the Phoebe Patrick Award, and the Vianden International Summer School Award — all from the 2012 IFAC Australian Singing Competition.