John Longmuir
Tenor
In 2021/2022, John Longmuir sang Count Almaviva in The Barber of Seville for State Opera South Australia and Opera Australia and Oronte (Alcina) for National Opera. The following year, he returned to OA as Almaviva and starred in SOSA’s inaugural Gilbert & Sullivan Festival. 2024 engagements included Almaviva, Arbace (Idomeneo) and Rodolfo (La bohème) for Opera Australia, Candide in Sydney and Adelaide and Bach’s St. Matthew Passion in Perth.
One of Australia’s most acclaimed young tenors, John was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. His operatic studies took place at the Australian Opera Studio.
His awards encompass all of Australia’s major competitions, having won the prestigious Herald-Sun Aria, the Opera and Arts Support Group Scholarship and the inaugural Joan Sutherland and Richard Bonynge Bel Canto Award.
After making his professional debut as Ismaele in Nabucco in Tokyo Japan, he joined Opera Australia, first as a young artist and then as a principal.
John has sung all the major leggiero repertoire for Opera Australia including: Tamino in The Magic Flute, Narcisco in Il turco in Italia, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, Ernesto in Don Pasquale, Camille in The Merry Widow, Almaviva in The Barber of Seville, Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore, Fenton in Falstaff, Beppe in Pagliacci, Gastone in La traviata, The Count of Lerma in Don Carlos, Pong in Turandot and many others. John has also appeared with West Australian Opera as Almaviva in The Barber of Seville and Camille in The Merry Widow.
Also in high demand on the concert platform, his performance highlights include: Carmina Burana with The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and the New National Theatre in Tokyo, Elijah with Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, Bach’s Mass in B minor with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Handel’s Messiah with Royal Melbourne Philharmonic, Rossini’s Stabat Mater with West Australian Symphony Orchestra, Handel’s Israel in Egypt with the Berliner Cappella and Fauré’s La naissance de Vénus at the Konzerthaus Berlin. In 2012 and 2014, John was invited to sing Grimoaldo in concert performances of Handel’s Rodelinda under Richard Bonynge, now available as a commercial recording.
Recent performances for Opera Australia have included Camille in The Merry Widow, Gastone in La traviata, Juan in Don Quichotte and Arturo in Lucia di Lammermoor; in late 2018, John sang Camille for State Opera South Australia; 2019 engagements included principal roles in Turandot, Salome, Wozzeck, Il viaggio a Reims and Anna Bolena for Opera Australia and Rev. Horace Adams in Peter Grimes for Sydney Symphony.