Rhys Meirion

Rhys Meirion was born in Wales and studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London. He was a company principal for English National Opera for three years, where his roles included Rodolfo in La Bohème, Alfredo in La Traviata, Nemorino in L'Elisir d'Amore, Nadir in The Pearlfishers, Marcello in Leoncavallo's La Boheme, Duke in Rigoletto, Tebaldo in I Capuleti e i Montechi, Tamino in The Magic Flute, the title role in Ernani, Sailor in Tristan und Isolde, Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi, Italian Singer in Der Rosenkavalier, Froh in Das Rheingold and Zinovy in Lady Macbeth of Mtzensk. In 2002 Rhys made his Australian debut as Rodolfo for Western Australian Opera and his European debut as Rudolfo for Städtische Bühnen, Frankfurt-am-Main. Subsequent roles include the title role in Gounod's Faust with the Hong Kong Opera Society, Rodolfo for Opera Australia and Pinkerton in Madame Butterfly for the Lithuanian National Opera and English National Opera.

Concert highlights include a gala concert at the Royal Albert Hall with Bryn Terfel, his BBC Prom debut at the opening night of the 2001 BBC Proms, Desert Island Discs Anniversary Concert at the Royal Festival Hall, a live BBC recording of Beethoven's 9th Symphony conducted by Richard Hickox and Verdi's Requiem at the Royal Albert Hall. Rhys has appeared at the Henley Festival, Cheltenham Festival, North Wales Festival and Swansea Festival and in concerts in Barbados, Toronto, Ottawa and Florida.

Recordings include a duet album with Bryn Terfel entitled Benedictus, three solo CD recordings on the SAIN label and a CD entitled Bluebirds of Happiness for the Australian label Stanza AV. Engagements this season include Fenton in Falstaff for Welsh National Opera, Elijah at the Welsh Proms in Cardiff and various concerts across the UK.