In the 2024/25 season, Thomas Blondelle makes his house debuts at the Bregenz Festival as Max ("Der Freischütz") and at the Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen as Apollo-Dionysos in Trojahn’s opera "Orest". Concerts of "Eine schöne Müllerin", a composition by Daan Janssens based on Schubert’s work and accompanied by the Spectra Ensemble, follows at the Odegand Festival Gent and the Leuven Transit Festival in Belgium. After this, he performs Herodes ("Salome") in two new productions, first at the Opera Ballet Vlaanderen in Antwerp and then at the Latvian National Opera in Riga. In the same role, as well as in the role of Baron Lummer ("Intermezzo"), he then returns to the Deutsche Oper Berlin, and will also give his debut in the title role of Siegfried under the baton of Kent Nagano in Prague, Paris and Dresden, amongst other locations.
While still studying, he gave his house debut at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, singing the leading role of Hans Scholl ("Die Weiße Rose"). At the Brunswick State Theater, where he was a member of the ensemble from 2006 to 2009, he sang Belmonte ("Die Entführung aus dem Serail"), Boris ("Katya Kabanova"), Orlando ("Orlando Paladino"), Cassio ("Otello"), Edwin ("Die Csardasfürstin"), Graf Zedlau ("Wiener Blut"), Alfredo ("La Traviata") and Eisenstein ("Die Fledermaus"). From 2009 to 2023, Thomas Blondelle was a member of the ensemble at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, where he sang, amongst many other roles, Tamino ("Die Zauberflöte"), Loge ("Das Rheingold"), Herodes ("Salome"), Ismaele ("Nabucco"), Macduff ("Macbeth"), the Prince ("L’amour des trois oranges"), Chevalier de la Force ("Dialogues des Carmélites"), Male Chorus ("The Rape of Lucretia"), Eisenstein ("Die Fledermaus"Der fliegende Holländer"), Pelléas ("Pelléas et Mélisande") and the title role in "Parsifal".
He has been invited by distinguished theaters and festivals such as the Bavarian State Opera in Munich (Froh in "Das Rheingold", Graf von Kent in "Lear" and the dance master in "Ariadne auf Naxos"), the Vienna Volksoper (Balduin in "Wiener Blut"), the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival (Gomatz in "Zaide"), the Saito Kinen Festival (tenor solo in "Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher"), De Nederlandse Opera in Amsterdam (David in "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg" and Herodes in "Salome"), the Lucerne Festival (Froh in "Das Rheingold"), the Festival d’Aix en Provence (the Drum Major in "Wozzeck"), the BBC Proms (Walther von der Vogelweide in "Tannhäuser" and Narraboth in "Salome") and the Opéra National du Rhin in Strassbourg (Erik in "Der Fliegende Holländer", Parsifal, Elis in "Der Schatzgräber" and Claudio in "Das Liebesverbot"). Further guest engagements include Max ("Der Freischütz"), Erik ("Der fliegende Holländer") and "Das Lied von der Erde" at the Stuttgart State Opera, Herodes ("Salome") in Luxemburg, Belmonte ("Die Entführung aus dem Serail") and Herodes ("Salome") at Frankfurt Opera, as well as a plethora of roles at the Hessian State Theater in Wiesbaden, where he appeared as Loge ("Das Rheingold"), Erik ("Der fliegende Holländer"), Lenski ("Eugene Onegin"), Matteo ("Arabella"), Tito ("La clemenza di Tito"), Idomeneo ("Idomeneo") and Stolzing ("Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg"). He performed the solo tenor role in "Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher" with the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center and at the Philharmonie de Paris, sang the Drum Major in "Wozzeck" with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in Glasgow and took over the leading role of Nikolaus Sprink in Kevin Puts’ Opera "Silent Night" at Cincinnati Opera.
On the concert stage, he performed with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, RIAS Kammerchor, Nancy Opera, St. Gallen Symphony Orchestra, Stuttgart Philharmonic, WDR Radio Orchestra, WDR Symphony Orchester Cologne, Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest, Orchestre de Monte Carlo, Orchestre de Paris, Brussels Philharmonic, Symfonieorkest Vlaanderen, and New York Philharmonic.
He worked with distinguished conductors such as Yves Abel, Marco Armiliato, Maurizio Barbacini, Paolo Carignani, Alexander Joel, Michail Jurowski, Jiří Kout, Sigiswald Kuijken, Kent Nagano, Simon Rattle, Carlo Rizzi, Donald Runnicles, Ulf Schirmer, Marc Albrecht, José Cura, Michael Schønwandt, Kazuki Yamada, Lothar Zagrosek, and Alan Gilbert.
An avid recitalist, his repertoire includes the main song cycles of the German Lied repertoire, a recital programme called "Banalités" (recorded for Fuga Libera), and a recital with Italian Art songs by Rossini, Verdi and Tosti. With mixed solo programmes, he made his Japan debut in Tokyo in 2011 and in Madrid, at Théâtre du Châtelet Paris in 2012. His second solo album "Dreams and Nightmares" features songs by Schubert, Strauss and Wagner. In 2023, he created a dramatized song recital playing Ludwig van Beethoven and singing songs by the same composer.
He also works as a librettist and composer of predominantly art songs and chamber music. In 2021, he was appointed professor at the LUCA School of Arts in Belgium, where he develops concepts and coaching for the institute’s opera productions.
The Belgian tenor was born in Bruges and studied vocal performance, piano, composition and chamber music at his hometown’s Stedelijk Conservatory. At the KUL University of Leuven, he obtained a master’s degree in musicology in 2006. At the Viñas Competition in Barcelona, he was awarded the Prize for a Young Promising Contestant in 2005, and he won the Second Prize at the Concours Reine Elisabeth 2011 in Brussels, as well as the Palazetto Bru Prize at the 2012 Belvedere Competition in Vienna.