© Gerard Demattio

British tenor Jonathan Stoughton has garnered widespread critical praise for a voice that combines lyrical beauty with dramatic heft - “Beautifully timbred, wonderfully radiant, with masculine dark colours” (Parsifal - Online Merker), “Outstanding in the cast was the Siegfried himself. The British tenor Jonathan Stoughton offered well-projected, well-tuned, richly coloured tone across his entire range and expressed both the naivety and brute force of the young hero” (Siegfried - Opera Magazine) and “Jonathan Stoughton delivered an exceptional performance with his honey-toned and resonant voice. His commanding presence and radiant tenor greatly captivated the audience” (Erik - Liveen Times). Recent hugely successful appearances as Siegfried, Siegmund, Parsifal and Erik have earned him a growing international reputation as a sought-after interpreter of the heroic roles of Richard Wagner.

In the 2025/2026 season Stoughton adds two more significant Wagnerian roles to his repertoire. In the autumn, he makes his role début as Lohengrin for the Nationaltheater Mannheim under the baton of GMD Roberto Rizzi Brignoli. This is followed, in the spring, by Stoughton’s role and theatre debut with the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos as the eponymous hero in Wagner’s Tannhäuser. For Nationaltheater Mannheim, Stoughton also returns to the role of Parsifal and appears as Pinkerton Madama Butterfly. On the concert platform, he will appear as both Siegmund and Siegfried in performances of Der Ring an einem Abend, in addition to returning to the role of Siegmund in Act One of Die Walküre under the musical direction of Axel Kober.

Stoughton’s engagements in the 2024/2025 season included Doctor Marianus in Mahler’s 8th Symphony with the Prague Symphony Orchestra and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Musikalische Akademie Mannheim. For the Nationaltheater Mannheim, he returned to the title role of Parsifal and appeared as both Siegmund and Siegfried in Der Ring an einem Abend. In January 2025, Stoughton made his house début as Erik Der Fliegender Holländer for New National Theatre Tokyo under the musical direction of Marc Albrecht.

In the 2023/2024 season, Stoughton’s stage debut in the title role of Siegfried for Bühnen Bern, under the musical direction of Nicholas Carter, won widespread critical praise- “In addition to his athletic physique, Stoughton impressed with his admirable vocalise: The intelligent singer began his performance with a lyrical start and yet with a powerful dark colour, gave the blacksmith's songs an intensely distinctive tone and rich high notes, dreaming of his mother in a wonderful legato, intoned ‘Selige Öde auf sonniger Höh' in fine piani, only to finally allow his magnificent, wonderfully timbred, colourful tenor material to blossom in all its facets once again to offer the rested Brünnhilde a brilliant vocal challenge” (Die Neue Merker). Equally, Stoughton’s role début as Dimitri Boris Gudonov, house début as Erik in the premiere of Der Fliegender Holländer for Deutsches Nationtheater Weimar and performances of the role of Bacchus Ariadne auf Naxos for Nationaltheater Mannheim were very warmly received.

Stoughton’s 2022/2023 season began with a return to the roles of Siegmund Die Walküre and Siegfried Götterdämmerung in the Daegu International Opera Festival under the musical direction of Alexander Soddy. For Nationaltheater Mannheim he appeared as both Siegmund and Siegfried in performances of Der Ring an einem Abend and for Staatstheater Augsburg as Florestan in a new production of Fidelio. He finished his season in the title role of Parsifal in the highly acclaimed Kinderoper at the Bayreuth Festival.

In 2021, Stoughton joined the ensemble of the National Theatre Mannheim, where he sings the major roles of the Deutsches fach. In his first season in the theatre he appeared in new productions of Der Fliegender Holländer (Erik) and Götterdämmerung (Siegfried), in addition to making three hugely successful role débuts - Siegmund Die Walküre (under the musical direction of Alexander Soddy), the title role of Parsifal in the 65th anniversary year of Hans Schüler’s legendary production and Max in a new production of Der Freischütz - “‘Kommt ein schlanker Bursch’ gegangen’, (There goes a handsome lad) muses Ännchen, and in fact he appeared in the form of Jonathan Stoughton and became the vocal ideal of Max. His tenor voice has a beautiful timbre, effortlessly scaling up to radiant heights, giving the role a stern, masculine tone with a pithy, melodious middle range and perfect intonation. This intelligent singer was able to effectively combine the lyrical sequences with dramatic overtones.” (Online Merker).

Engagements in previous seasons include Siegfried Der Ring an einem Abend at Leipzig Opera, Turiddu Cavalleria Rusticana for Opera North, Max in Krenek’s Johnny spielt auf at the State Opera in Prague, Tristan Tristan und Isolde for Saffron Opera Group, Einsiedel Simplicius Simplicissimus and Der Kaiser Die Frau ohne Schatten, both for Nationaltheater Mannheim, Jimmy American Lulu at the Bregenz Festival, Vakula Christmas Eve for Chelsea Opera Group and Bacchus Ariadne auf Naxos and Siegfried Götterdämmerung both for Longborough Festival Opera under the musical direction of Anthony Negus. He made his professional début (for Glyndebourne) in the rôle of Steva Jenufa.

Jonathan Stoughton was born in London. He trained at the Royal College of Music and the National Opera Studio. The recipient of numerous scholarships and awards, Stoughton’s vocal studies were further supported by the British Wagner Society and by the Mastersingers.