With a repertoire that includes Wagner’s Amfortas, Verdi’s Macbeth and the title role in John Adams’ "Nixon in China", Thomas Lehman has rapidly established himself as one of the most compelling baritones of our time. His burgeoning international career has already taken him to the Salzburg Festival, the Bavarian State Opera, the Royal Opera House and the Deutsche Oper Berlin, with Wagner’s great baritone roles increasingly taking centre stage in his repertoire.
In the 2026/27 season, Thomas Lehman returns to the Royal Opera House as Gunther in Barrie Kosky’s new production of "Götterdämmerung", conducted by Sir Antonio Pappano. He will also make his debut at the Bayreuth Festival as the Herald in Ilaria Lanzino’s new production of "Lohengrin", conducted by Tarmo Peltokoski. Furthermore, he will make his debut at Zurich Opera House as Dr Falke in "Die Fledermaus", as well as his debut at the Dutch National Opera as Ibn-Hakia in Evgeny Titov’s production of "Iolanta", conducted by Kwame Ryan. On the concert stage, he sings "Carmina Burana" with the Dresden Philharmonic under Sir Donald Runnicles, as well as with the orchestra of the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma at the Circo Massimo in Rome.
Among his most recent highlights is the world premiere of the role of Dr Keiron in Unsuk Chin’s "The Dark Side of the Moon" at the Hamburg State Opera under Kent Nagano. He has also appeared at the Royal Opera House as the Father in "Hansel and Gretel", at the Salzburg Festival as Lord Guglielmo Cecil in Ulrich Rasche’s new production of "Maria Stuarda", at the Bavarian State Opera as Kilian in "Der Freischütz" under Daniele Rustioni, and at the San Francisco Opera as the Herald in David Alden’s production of "Lohengrin". He also appeared for the Detroit Opera as Guglielmo in "Così fan tutte", and as Ibn-Hakia in "Iolanta" at the Opéra de Rouen and the Theater Bern. His other notable engagements include Ford in Barrie Kosky’s "Falstaff" at the Komische Oper Berlin, Il Conte Almaviva in "Le nozze di Figaro" at the Theatre Basel, and Donner in "Das Rheingold" with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra under Yannick Nézet-Séguin – in performances in Rotterdam, at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, in Dortmund and Baden-Baden.
As a member of the ensemble at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Thomas Lehman established himself as one of the theatre’s leading baritones and sang an exceptionally wide-ranging repertoire there. In recent seasons, he took on, amongst other roles, the parts of Amfortas in "Parsifal" and Kurwenal in a new production of "Tristan und Isolde" for the first time. He also took on the title roles in "Macbeth" and John Adams’ "Nixon in China", Yeletsky in a new production of "The Queen of Spades", and made his first staged appearances as Wolfram in "Tannhäuser". His extensive repertoire at the Deutsche Oper also includes Gunther in Stefan Herheim’s "Götterdämmerung", Lucifer in "Antikrist", Guy de Montfort in "Les Vêpres siciliennes", Lescaut in "Manon Lescaut" under Sir Simon Rattle, Ford in "Falstaff", Marcello in "La bohème", Renato in "Un ballo in maschera", Figaro in "Il barbiere di Siviglia", Il Conte Almaviva in "Le nozze di Figaro", Valentin in "Faust" and Silvio in "Pagliacci".