Liam Bonthrone

Tenor

"delightfully blessed with a light bubbling tenor and an appealing presence, just what any Prince Charming needs"

The Times

"tenor Liam Bonthrone is a standout."

The Guardian

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Scottish tenor Liam Bonthrone is a member of the Opera Studio at the Bayerische Staatsoper, in Munich. Roles in the 2022/2023 season include; Rustighello (Lucrezia Borgia), Brighella (Ariadne auf Naxos), Ein Junger Seemann (Tristan und Isolde), Eurimaco/Pisandro (Il ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria), Un Lampionaio (Manon Lescaut), Edler I (Lohengrin), Pasek (Cunning Little Vixen), Player 2 (Hamlet) and Bedienter (Lear).

Liam was a Bicentenary Scholar at Royal Academy Opera, where he studied with Nuccia Focile, Marcus van den Akker and Jonathan Papp. He also holds a Masters of Performance with distinction from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and a First Class Bachelor’s from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

Liam won First Prize in the 2022 Clonter Opera Prize, was a semi-finalist in the 2022 Wigmore Hall/Bollinger Song Competition, and a finalist in the 2020 Kathleen Ferrier Awards. He recently made his role debut as Conte Almaviva (Il barbiere di Siviglia), with Nevill Holt Opera, and attended the 2022 Internationale Meistersinger Akademie, directed by Edith Wiens.

At Royal Academy Opera Liam performed Ferrando (Cosi fan tutte), Gonzalve (L’heure Espagnole), Tanzmeister and Haushofmeister (Ariadne auf Naxos) and Flute (A Midsummer Night’s Dream).

Liam is a Samling Artist, and has performed as an Alvarez Young Artist with Garsington Opera. He performed Tenor Corypheè and covered the title role in Garsington’s 2021 production of Le Comte Ory.

He made his international debut as Bruno in Bellini’s I Puritani with the Rotterdam Operakoor, in De Doelen. In 2019, Liam performed his role debut as Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola with British Youth Opera and won the Dame Hilda Bracket Prize from Sadler’s Wells and the Basil A. Turner Opera Award.

As a concert soloist, performances include Handel Messiah and Samson, Mendelssohn Elijah, Mozart Requiem and Mass in C minor, Bach Christmas Oratorio, St John Passion, Haydn The Creation, Finzi For St. Cecilia and MacMillan All the hills and vales along. He also appeared in various roles in the ensemble for Bernstein’s Candide, with the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Marin Alsop, in the Barbican Centre.

 Liam is in high demand as a recitalist; performing alongside the Prince Consort at the Wigmore Hall, and in Graham Johnson’s Song Guild at Milton Court. He was a featured soloist with BBC ‘Total Immersion’, and he frequently performs in collaboration with pianist Alasdair Hogarth for Classic FM. In February 2020, Liam performed in a Russian Song recital as part of the UK/Russia Year of Culture in the Rimsky-Korsakov Museum, St Petersburg. He was a finalist in the RAM 2021 Bicentenary Prize, at the Wigmore Hall.

Liam has participated in Masterclasses led by artists including Joyce DiDonato, Brigitte Fassbaender, Malcolm Martineau, Ian Bostridge, Ann Murray, Edith Wiens, and Roger Vignoles.

Valid for use until 1 September 2023


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Count Almaviva (The Barber of Seville)

Nevill Holt Opera, June 2022

Some of [the singing] is excellent. High-flying tenor Liam Bonthrone has all the notes for Count Almaviva and can get around the coloratura with the best of them.

The Stage ***

‘Tenor Liam Bonthrone had all the high notes for Count Almaviva while his ability to negotiate Rossini’s florid writing was impressive.’

George Hall, Opera Now

L'heure espagnole (Gonsalve)

Royal Academy of Music, November 2021

Liam Bonthrone’s self-obsessed nerdy Gonsalve is most stylish; he makes the high vocal lines sound as easy as pie and brings a wonderful ‘heady’ quality to them

Alexander Campbell, Classical Source

Ramiro, La Cenerentola

British Youth Opera

Liam Bonthrone's Don Ramiro had a charming naivety to him, coupled with an admirable facility in Rossini's tenor writing, with just the right sort of vibrant yet not overdone top notes, and this role is high

Robert Hugill, Planet Hugill

Liam Bonthrone was a Prince Ramiro of integrity...the tenor fearlessly climbed to the top of Rossini’s challenging vocal lines, using the energy of the music to suggest the Prince’s ardency and nobility.

Claire Seymour, Opera Today

Liam Bonthrone, delightfully blessed with a light bubbling tenor and an appealing presence: just what any Prince Charming needs

Bill Knight, The Times

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