American baritone Thomas Lehman has emerged as a distinctive voice in the international opera scene. His career was launched at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, and he now begins to enjoy an association with the operas of Richard Wagner and is equally at home in the established repertoire and contemporary works.
His engagements in the 2025/26 season include his role debut as Amfortas in "Parsifal" and Kurwenal in a new production of "Tristan und Isolde" at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. He appears as Ibn Hakia in "Iolanta" at the Opéra de Rouen and makes his debut at the Bayerische Staatsoper as Killian in "Der Freischütz". A particular future highlight includes his return to the Royal Opera House as Gunther in a new staging of "Götterdämmerung" conducted by Sir Antonio Pappano, completing this new "Ring" Cycle directed by Barrie Kosky.
Highlights of the 2024/25 Season included debuts at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden as the Father in "Hänsel und Gretel", conducted by Giedrė Šlekytė, and at the Salzburg Festival as Lord Guglielmo Cecil in Ulrich Rasche's new production of "Maria Stuarda". He also appeared at Detroit Opera as Guglielmo in "Così fan tutte", directed by Yuval Sharon. At the Staatsoper Hamburg, he created the role of Dr. Keiron in the world premiere of Unsuk Chin’s "Die dunkle Seite des Mondes", conducted by Kent Nagano and directed by Dead Centre. At the Deutsche Oper Berlin, he sang the title role in a new production of "Macbeth" under Enrique Mazzola and gave his first staged performances as Wolfram in "Tannhäuser".
Recently, Thomas Lehman made his debut at San Francisco Opera as Heerrufer in David Alden’s production of "Lohengrin"—a performance that earned him a nomination in the company’s Emerging Stars competition. He also made his role debut as Wolfram in a concert performance of "Tannhäuser" at the Edinburgh International Festival, conducted by Sir Donald Runnicles. At the Deutsche Oper Berlin, he added new roles to his repertoire, including Yeletsky in a new production of "Pique Dame" and the title role in "Nixon in China".
On the concert stage, Lehman made his debut with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra performing "Carmina Burana" at the Opening Night of the Edinburgh International Festival. He returned to the piece with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra under Stéphane Denève, and joined the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra as Donner in "Das Rheingold" under Yannick Nézet-Séguin, in performances across Paris, Rotterdam, Dortmund, and Baden-Baden.
At the Deutsche Oper Berlin, his wide-ranging roles have included Gunther in a new "Götterdämmerung" staged by Stefan Herheim, Lucifer in "Antikrist", and Guy de Montfort in "Les Vêpres siciliennes". He has also been heard there as Lescaut ("Manon Lescaut", conducted by Sir Simon Rattle), Ford ("Falstaff"), Marcello ("La bohème"), Renato ("Un ballo in Maschera"), Figaro ("Il barbiere di Siviglia"), Il Conte Almaviva ("Le nozze di Figaro"), Valentin ("Faust"), and Silvio ("Pagliacci").
His guest appearances have included Ford in Barrie Kosky’s "Falstaff" at the Komische Oper Berlin, Ibn Hakia in "Iolanta" at the Theater Bern, Conte Almaviva ("Le nozze di Figaro") for Theater Basel, Lescaut at the Edinburgh International Festival, Silvio for the Teatro São Carlos in Lisbon, and Hindley Earnshaw in Wuthering Heights for the Opéra national de Lorraine.