Thomas Atkins

In the 2021/22 season, he continues to make a series of exciting company debuts: at Opéra National de Paris as Der Steuermann Der fliegende Holländer; and the Israeli Opera and Opera Holland Park as Lensky Eugene Onegin. On the concert platform, he makes his debut with The Hallé under the baton of Sir Mark Elder as Pinkerton Madama Butterfly, and joins the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra for an Opera Gala evening. Looking further ahead, Atkins makes highly anticipated returns to his alma mater, the Royal Opera House and to Glyndebourne and Gothenburg Opera.

Highlights of the last season include appearances at Bayerische Staatsoper as Roderigo in Amélie Niermeyer’s production of Otello; and at Glyndebourne, first in a semi-staged production of Die Zauberflöte as Tamino and as Kudrjaš in a new production of Katya Kabanova, directed by Damiano Michieletto for the festival.

Other recent engagements include Rodolfo La bohème with Opera North, Gothenburg Opera and New Zealand Opera; and Lysander A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Opéra de Montpellier. Following his time on the Jette Parker Programme, he returned to the Royal Opera house as Gastone La Traviata. In the 2019/20 season Atkins was also invited to perform Beethoven’s Cantata on the Death of Emperor Joseph II with the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Vladimir Jurowski at the Royal Festival Hall.

On the concert platform, Atkins joined Marin Alsop and the London Symphony Orchestra in performances of Bernstein’s Candide; appeared in the Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation Gala at Wigmore Hall; and made his debut with Opera Rara as Empsaele Il Paria at the Barbican with the Britten Sinfonia under the baton of Sir Mark Elder. Further engagements include 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 A Child of Our Time; Mozart Requiem; Dubois Seven Last Words of Christ; Vaughan Williams Mass in G Minor; Handel Messiah; Verdi Requiem; Mozart Requiem in Switzerland; Rossini Stabat Mater, and opera galas in Budapest.

At the Royal Opera House, Atkins was seen as Gastone La Traviata, Roderigo Otello, Pilade Oreste, Faninal’s Major Domo Der Rosenkavalier, Poisson Adriana Lecouvreur, Enrique The Exterminating Angel, First Armed Man Die Zauberflöte, Don José La Tragédie de Carmen (Wilton's Music Hall), Teacher Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk and 2nd Brabant Noble Lohengrin. 

Atkins is a graduate of the New Zealand School of Music and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, during which he was supported by the Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation and the New Zealand Arts Foundation Patronage. He was a finalist in the Guildhall School ‘Gold Medal’ 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.

2021/22 season / 616 words. Not to be altered without permission.