Paul O’Neill

Tenor

Australian tenor Paul O’Neill has forged a compelling international career, performing in leading opera houses and concert halls across Europe and Australasia. With Opera Australia, he has performed Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly), Alfredo (La traviata), Rodolfo (La bohème), Narraboth (Salome), and The Duke (Rigoletto). He also featured in the company’s Verdi Gala concerts alongside Nicole Car and Étienne Dupuis.

A frequent principal with West Australian Opera—his home company—he has appeared as Pinkerton, Manrico (Il trovatore), the Prince (Rusalka), Don José (Carmen), Cavaradossi (Tosca), the title role in Otello, Alfredo, Rodolfo, Turiddu (Cavalleria rusticana), Canio (Pagliacci), and the Duke. He began his career as a Young Artist with the company, and returns in 2026 to sing Lensky (Eugene Onegin) and Alfredo. Elsewhere in Australia, Paul has sung Macduff (Macbeth) for State Opera South Australia.

Formerly an ensemble member of the Berlin Staatsoper, his international appearances include the title role in Faust for Theater Münster, Theater Hagen and the Mainz State Theatre; Cavaradossi in Magdeburg; and Pinkerton in a touring production throughout China. He has also performed the Duke in Rigoletto with Opera Holland Park and the state theatres of Karlsruhe and Mainz; Rodolfo with New Zealand Opera; Turiddu, Cavaradossi and Carlo VII in Verdi’s Joan of Arc for Theater Bielefeld; and Jason in Médée for both Theater Bielefeld and the Mainz State Theatre.

He has appeared as Don José at the Glyndebourne Festival; Laca (Jenůfa) and in Janáček’s song cycle The Diary of One Who Disappeared for Opéra de Lille; Rodolfo for Halle Opera; Elvino (La sonnambula) and Laca with Graz Opera; Radamès (Aida) at the St Margarethen Opera Festival; the Prince (Rusalka) at the State Theatre of Saarbrücken; and Isepo (La Gioconda) in concert at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam.

Paul’s concert repertoire spans a wide range of major works. With the Berlin Philharmonic, he has sung Mendelssohn’s Elijah and Haydn’s Orlando Paladino under Seiji Ozawa and Nikolaus Harnoncourt. Other highlights include Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Rheinland-Pfalz State Philharmonic and the Beethoven Orchestra in Bonn; Verdi’s Requiem at the Konzerthaus Berlin and with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra; Orff’s Carmina Burana with West Australian Opera; Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 and Siegmund (Die Walküre) with WASO; and Britten’s War Requiem with WASO and the Düsseldorf Symphony. Additional repertoire includes Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle and Stabat Mater, Handel’s Ode for St Cecilia’s Day, and Haydn’s Nelson Mass. He returns to WASO this season as Erik in The Flying Dutchman, and performs Verdi’s Requiem with the Canberra Symphony.

Paul earned his Bachelor of Performing Arts at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts. He was awarded Opera Foundation Australia’s Covent Garden National Opera Studio Scholarship and studied at the Cardiff International Academy of Voice with Dennis O’Neill.