Born in Melbourne, the British-Australian character tenor Adrian Dwyer has appeared at many of the world’s greatest Opera Houses, gaining international recognition for his wide ranging vocal ability and vivid theatrical presence in works spanning from the 19th Century to the present day.

Engagements have taken him to the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Teatro Real (Madrid), Teatro Massimo (Palermo), Opernhaus Zürich, Dutch National Opera (Amsterdam), Welsh National Opera, the Israeli Opera, English National Opera, Opéra de Toulon, Scottish Opera, Irish National Opera, Cape Town Opera, Opera Queensland, Opera North, Birmingham Opera, Northern Ireland Opera, the State Opera of South Australia, as well as the Amsterdam, Edinburgh International and Aldeburgh Festivals.

Recent and future highlights include Mime Der Ring des Nibelungen for Longborough Festival Opera (and Das Rheingold in Singapore), Astrologer The Golden Cockerel, where he got immediately reinvited for the German premiere of Gerald Barry’s Alice’s Adventures Under Ground, Almeric Iolanta with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Brighella Ariadne auf Naxos for Opera North, the title role in the world premiere of The Life & Death of Alexander Litvinenko by Anthony Bolton at Grange Park Opera and the world premiere of Michael Gallen’s Elsewhere with Straymaker Opera and Music-Theatre Company.

In recent seasons he also performed D’Esperaudieu in Gerald Barry’s The Intelligence Park at the ROH Linbury Theatre with Music Theatre Wales, and returned to Opera Queensland as the Prince in John Adams’ A Flowering Tree, and to Welsh National Opera as Anatole in David Pountney’s new production of Prokofiev’s War and Peace including performances at the Royal Opera House, following what critics called a “career-defining” house debut with the company as Andrei in Mussorgsky’s Khovanshchina. He performed one of his signature roles, Electrician in Thomas Adès’ Powder Her Face for the inaugural production of Irish National Opera. Notable international main stage debuts include Israeli Opera (Salome), Oper Zürich (Sweeney Todd), Teatro Real Madrid (Street Scene), Teatro Massimo Palermo (Parsifal).

He has garnered critical acclaim in repertoire ranging from Mozart to Adés, collaborating with innovative directors such as Richard Jones, Christopher Alden, Calixto Bieito, Deborah Warner, David Pountney, Carrie Cracknell, David Alden, John Fulljames, Oliver Mears, Graham Vick, Olivia Fuchs, Antony McDonald, Annilese Miskimmon, Olivier Benezech, David Freeman, and many others.

He has performed with eminent conductors such as Christoph Eschenbach, Sir Richard Armstrong, Richard Bonynge, Jane Glover, Marc Soustrot, David Parry, Ulf Schirmer, Stephen Lord, Elgar Howarth, Oleg Caetani, Mark Wigglesworth, Ed Gardner, Tomas Hanus, Rafael Payare, Paul Daniel, Vasily Petrenko, David Stern, Nicholas Braithwaite, David Hill, Richard Farnes and Rafael Payare.

On the concert stage he has appeared in the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, with Orchestre de Paris, München Rundfunkorchester, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, RTÉ Symphony Orchestra, and the Symphony Orchestras of Melbourne, Queensland and Adelaide.

A prizewinner in the Australian Singing Competition, he studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the National Opera Studio London, with additional scholarships to the Ravinia Festival (Chicago), Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme and the Bayreuth Festival. He made his professional debut in Los Angeles as Rodolfo in Baz Luhrmann’s production of La Bohème (winning an “Ovation” Award for Outstanding Performance).

See Adrian Dwyer perform Carmina Burana with the RSNO on 15 and 16 November 2024.