Michael Petruccelli

Tenor

Renowned for his “pure, glowing tenor,” Australian tenor Michael Petruccelli has returned home after several busy seasons at Oper Frankfurt, establishing himself as a versatile artist across a repertoire spanning early music to contemporary opera.

For Opera Australia, Michael has appeared as Stephen Goldring in The Eighth Wonder, Pedro in Two Weddings, One Bride, and Goro in the company’s touring production of Madama Butterfly. In collaboration with Pinchgut Opera and Opera Australia, he sang Septimius in Handel’s Theodora, and he returns to the company in 2026 as Pang in Turandot and Goro on the main stage.

Elsewhere, Michael’s roles with Victorian Opera have included Tichon in Káťa Kabanová, Pirelli in Sweeney Todd in Dubai, Arturo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Beppe in Pagliacci, Monsieur Taupe in Capriccio and The Minister in The Princess and the Pea. For West Australian Opera he performed Almaviva in The Barber of Seville, and with Pinchgut Opera he portrayed Jason in Medée and Aquillo in Farnace. Michael was a member of Oper Frankfurt’s principal ensemble, appearing as The Italian Singer in Capriccio, Basilio and Don Curzio in Le nozze di Figaro, Lucio in Rossini’s Otello, Graf von Lerma in Don Carlo, the Voice of a Young Sailor in a new production of Tristan und Isolde, and Remendado in Carmen.

An accomplished interpreter of contemporary opera, Michael has been closely associated with new Australian works. He starred in Jonathan Mills’ opera Eucalyptus for Victorian Opera, touring to Perth, Brisbane and Melbourne, for which he won a Green Room Award for Outstanding Performance in a Lead Role, and was involved in productions of Richard Mills’ Galileo and Deborah Cheetham’s Parrwang Lifts the Sky for Victorian Opera, Voss for State Opera South Australia, and Mary Finsterer’s Antarctica for Sydney Chamber Opera.

On the concert platform, Michael has taken tenor solos in Schubert’s Missa Brevis in G major, Mozart’s Missa Brevis in D major and Coronation Mass, Saint-Saëns’ Oratorio de Noël, Haydn’s Missa Sancti Nicolai and The Creation, Bach’s Magnificat and St Matthew Passion, and Verdi’s Requiem. He has performed with orchestras and ensembles such as the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Royal Melbourne Philharmonic, Melbourne Bach Choir and Festival of Voices Hobart. His recital work includes the Night and Day series with associate artist Elyane Laussade, Brahms’ Liebeslieder-Walzer with The Team of Pianists, and Britten’s The Heart of the Matter and Canticle III (‘Still Falls the Rain’) with Ensemble Goldentree.

Looking ahead, Michael will give the world premiere of Jonathan Mills’ Songs for a Stranger with the Australian World Orchestra, make his New Zealand debut as Goro in concert with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, and sing in Handel’s Messiah with Sydney Philharmonia Choirs.