About — Jonathan Stoughton

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.

Stoughton’s 2026/2027 season begins with his role and house debut as Loge in Wagner’s Das Rheingold at the Korean National Opera in Seoul. Following this, Stoughton returns (twice) to one of his signature roles, Parsifal. In Vilnius, he appears in a concert performance of the opera, marking the anniversary of the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra and, later in the season, he takes the title role again, this time in the final iteration of the celebrated production at the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland. Other highlights of the season include a return to the Nationaltheater Mannheim, where Stoughton will once again appear as both Siegmund and Siegfried in performances of Der Ring an einem Abend and a house debut with Aalto-Theater Essen in the title role of Lohengrin.

In the 2025/2026 season Stoughton made his role début as Lohengrin for the Nationaltheater Mannheim under the baton of GMD Roberto Rizzi Brignoli. This was followed by a hugely successful stage and house debut for Opera Balet Ljubljana as Tristan in Robert Wilson’s acclaimed posthumous production of Tristan und Isolde, conducted by Jacek Kaspszyk. For Nationaltheater Mannheim, Stoughton returned to the role of Parsifal in addition to appearing as both Siegmund and Siegfried in performances of Der Ring an einem Abend and a return to the role of Siegmund in a concert performance of 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.