SIR BRYN TERFEL CBE – Artistic Director

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, he 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 at Santa Fe Opera.

Sir Bryn’s operatic repertoire spans a wide range of leading roles, including Méphistophélès in Faust, the title role in Aleko, Leporello and the title role in Don Giovanni, Jochanaan in Salome, Scarpia in Tosca, Wotan in The Ring Cycle, Hans Sachs in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, the title role in Gianni Schicchi, Dulcamara in L’elisir d’amore, Tevye  in Fiddler on the Roof, Balstrode in Peter Grimes, and the title role in Sweeney Todd. He has performed these roles at major opera houses and festivals worldwide, including the Royal Opera House, the Metropolitan Opera, Bayerische Staatsoper, Wiener Staatsoper, Opernhaus Zürich, Welsh National Opera, Grange Park Opera and the Verbier Festival.

The 2026–27 season sees Sir Bryn take on a number of major engagements. A particular highlight is the launch of Oxford International Opera, of which he is Artistic Director, with a new fully staged production of Puccini’s Tosca at the New Theatre, Oxford, in which he sings Scarpia. He also returns to the Royal Opera House as the title role in Gianni Schicchi, performs Dulcamara in L’elisir d’amore at Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, and takes on the title role in Sweeney Todd at Grange Park Opera. His concert engagements include performances in Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne, as well as a recital at Harpa Hall in Reykjavík.

Sir Bryn is equally celebrated in concert, having appeared in recitals at the Herbstgold Festival, Staatsoper Hamburg, Stadttheater Klagenfurt, Müpa Budapest and the Tanglewood Festival, as well as performances such 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. In 2000, he 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, Sir Bryn’s extensive discography includes operas by Mozart, Wagner and Strauss, alongside more than fifteen solo albums spanning Lieder, American musical theatre, Welsh song and sacred repertoire, most recently the album Bryn Terfel: Sea Songs. He performed at the Coronation of King Charles III, singing the Kyrie by Paul Mealor, a historic national event.

He 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 awarded by the Alfred Toepfer Foundation, and in 2022 was honoured with a European Cultural Award at the Tonhalle, Zurich. In 2015, he received the Freedom of the City of London. In August 2026, he will receive the Medal of Owain Glyndŵr from the Machynlleth Festival, becoming the final recipient of the honour.