Biography

Simon O'Neill has rapidly established himself as one of the finest helden-tenors on the international stage. A native of New Zealand, he is a principal artist with the Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, La Scala and both the Bayreuth and Salzburg Festivals, appearing with a number of illustrious conductors including James Levine, Riccardo Muti, Valery Gergiev, Antonio Pappano, Daniel Barenboim, Pierre Boulez, Sir Charles Mackerras, Daniele Gatti, Edo de Waart, Bertrand de Billy, Donald Runnicles and Pietari Inkinen.

Notable debuts have included the Bayreuth Festival as the title role in Lohengrin with Andris Nelsons, New York's Metropolitan Opera as the Gran Sacerdote in Idomeneo with James Levine, the Royal Opera House as Jenik in The Bartered Bride with Sir Charles Mackerras, the Salzburg Festival in Die Zauberflöte with Riccardo Muti and Australian Opera as Sergei in Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk with Sir Richard Armstrong.  A consummate musician, both a pianist and tuba player his operatic highlights include the title role of Lohengrin and Florestan in Fidelio at the Royal Opera House, Metropolitan Opera tour of Japan with Die Walküre, Mao in John Adams Nixon in China with Minnesota Opera, Mitch in Previn's A Streetcar Named Desire at Theater an der Wien and Dmitri in Boris Godunov with New Zealand Opera. Simon also had the honour of touring Europe with Daniel Barenboim and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra performing act one Die Walküre.

In the summer of 2010 Simon sang the title role in Lohengrin at the Bayreuth Festival and Florestan in Fidelio at the Grafenegg Festival followed by Mahler's Eighth Symphony at the Edinburgh Festival. Simon then opened La Scala's 10/11 season as Siegmund in Die Walküre with Barenboim. Other engagements this season include Cavaradossi in Tosca in Berlin, Siegfried in Götterdämmerung in La Coruna, Das lied von der Erde with Levine at Carnegie Hall and at the Deutsche Opera Berlin with Runnicles, the title role in Samson and Delilah at the Concertgebouw, his return to the Bayreuth Festival as Parsifal and his debut at the Berlin Staatsoper as Siegmund.