James Egglestone

Tenor

Australian tenor James Egglestone is a dual Helpmann Award winner who has established himself as a versatile and distinguished performer with Australia’s major opera companies.

James’ operatic repertoire ranges from Mozart and bel canto to Wagner and twentieth-century works. He has maintained a close association with Opera Australia, where his roles have included Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, Lensky in Eugene Onegin, Cassio in Otello, Froh in Der Ring des Nibelungen, Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Edrisi in Król Roger, the latter earning him a Green Room Award for Best Male Performance in a Supporting Role. In 2026, he will star in the World Premiere of George Palmer’s The Drover’s Wife.

With Victorian Opera, James’ work has encompassed Aegisth in Elektra, Luigi in Il tabarro, Bob Cratchit in A Christmas Carol, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, Ferrando in Così fan tutte, Peter Quint in The Turn of the Screw, and Narraboth in Salome. Engagements with State Opera South Australia have included Rodolfo in La bohème, Don José in Carmen, the title role in Faust, Laurie in Little Women, Ishmael in Moby-Dick, and Tell-Tale Heart. For West Australian Opera, his roles have featured Nadir in The Pearl Fishers, Almaviva in The Barber of Seville, Ismaele in Nabucco, and Pluto in Orpheus in the Underworld. James sang leading roles in The Love of the Nightingale for West Australian Opera, Opera Queensland and Victorian Opera, which earned him a Helpmann Award for Best Male Singer in a Supporting Role. He received a second Helpmann Award for his performance in Little Women.

With Melbourne Opera, James has appeared as Nadir, Almaviva, Rodolfo, and Tamino in The Magic Flute, as well as Loge and Siegmund in Der Ring des Nibelungen, Jimmy in Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny, and Walter von Stolzing in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. His portrayal of Loge earned a Green Room Award and was praised by critics. Across the Tasman, he performed Cavaradossi in Tosca for New Zealand Opera and sang Cassio with the Auckland Philharmonia. Further international engagements have taken him to the Belcanto Festival in The Netherlands, singing Elvino in La sonnambula and Don Carissimo in La Dirindina.

On the concert platform, James is an established tenor soloist. His repertoire spans works such as Haydn’s The Creation, Bach’s St John Passion and selected Bach Cantatas, as well as Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, which he has performed with several orchestras, notably the Sydney Symphony Orchestra under Vladimir Ashkenazy. He has appeared with the Adelaide, Melbourne, Queensland, West Australian, Darwin and Canberra Symphony Orchestras, Auckland Philharmonia, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs and the Twilite Orchestra in Jakarta.