Nicholas Jones

Tenor

Brilliant young tenor Nicholas Jones has earned widespread acclaim for his performances across opera and concert stages in Australia and internationally. He won a Green Room Award and was nominated for a Helpmann Award for his portrayal of David in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg for Opera Australia.

For the national company, he has sung principal and featured roles including Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas, Michael Driscoll in the world premiere of Whiteley, Tony in West Side Story, Laertes in Brett Dean’s Hamlet, Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Tamino in The Magic Flute, Remendado in Carmen, Marasquin in Two Weddings, One Bride, Albazar in Il turco in Italia, and multiple roles in Shostakovich’s The Nose.

Nicholas is a strong advocate for new Australian opera. He created the role of Fish Lamb in the world premiere of Cloudstreet and Tom in Christina’s World for State Opera South Australia and was an original cast member of Deborah Cheetham’s Pecan Summer.

For State Opera South Australia, Nicholas has appeared as Tamino, the Tsarevich Gvidon in The Golden Cockerel, Ralph Rackstraw in HMS Pinafore, and Harry in Voss. He sang Cassio in Otello for West Australian Opera and Male Chorus in The Rape of Lucretia for Victorian Opera. Other appearances include Mercury/Thespis in Platée for Pinchgut Opera, and the Soldier in The Emperor of Atlantis and Barnardo in Erwin und Elmire for IOpera.

Nicholas is currently a principal artist with the Paris Opera, where his roles have ranged from Poisson in Adriana Lecouvreur, Guillot de Morfontaine in Manon, and Don Curzio in Le nozze di Figaro to Juan in Don Quichotte and Enrique in Thomas Adès’ The Exterminating Angel, alongside major appearances in Věc Makropulos and Turandot.

On the concert platform, he has performed with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra as Jaquino in Fidelio and in Mozart’s Mass in C minor; Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings with ANAM; Handel’s Messiah across Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide; Britten’s Canticles and Stefan Cassomenos’ Art of Thought at Melbourne Recital Centre; and Haydn’s The Creation with the Sydney Philharmonia.

In 2026, Nicholas sings Frederic in The Pirates of Penzance for Victorian Opera, Lensky in Eugene Onegin for Opera Australia and Gastone in La traviata for Paris Opera, and appears with Pinchgut Opera and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra.

He is a graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts, a Herald-Sun Aria finalist, and a past recipient of the Dame Heather Begg Memorial Award.

Nicholas Jones is supported by Ina Bornkessel-Schlesewsky and Matthias Schlesewsky