Joshua Hopkins

In the 2026/27 season, Hopkins makes his company debut at the Teatro Regio di Torino as Silvio in a new staging of Leoncavallo's Pagliacci directed by Francesco Micheli and conducted by Andrea Battistoni. He also returns to the Bayerische Staatsoper as Albert in Massenet’s Werther directed by Marie-Ève Signeyrole under the baton of Karina Canellakis. In North America, he returns to Houston Grand Opera as Papageno in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte directed by Renaud Doucet and conducted by David Chan and to Canadian Opera Company as Belcore in Donizetti’s L'elisir d'amore directed by James Robinson and conducted by Lorenzo Passerini. On the concert platform, Hopkins makes two appearances with Toronto Symphony, performing Handel’s Messiah conducted by Ivor Bolton and Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 conducted by Gustavo Gimeno. In Europe, he collaborates with conductor Anja Bihlmaier on two projects: performing Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra at Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall and on tour to the Brucknerhaus Linz and Beethovenhalle Bonn, and Britten’s War Requiem with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland at Dublin’s National Concert Hall.

Hopkins also brings his most personal project, Songs for Murdered Sisters, to a new venue this season, performing the song cycle with pianist Alessandro Praticò at La Monnaie in Brussels. Written by composer Jake Heggie and author Margaret Atwood, Songs for Murdered Sisters was conceived by Hopkins in remembrance of his sister, Nathalie Warmerdam, to bring awareness to ending intimate partner violence. The critically acclaimed film is available on YouTube and the JUNO-nominated digital album, released on the Pentatone label, is available on all streaming platforms. Hopkins gave the live world premiere of the work's orchestral version in the 2022/23 season with Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra under the baton of Alexander Shelley. He has since performed the work with the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra, Victoria Symphony Orchestra, University of Michigan’s Philharmonia Orchestra and with the Philadelphia Orchestra at Carnegie Hall conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

Last season, Hopkins returned to the Semperoper Dresden as Papageno in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte directed by Josef Köpplinger, going on to repeat the role in Julie Taymor’s production at The Metropolitan Opera. He also performed Figaro in Emilio Sagi’s production of Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia for San Francisco Opera. Concert performances included Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast in Bucharest with the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Paul Daniel; Rachmaninov’s The Bells under Matthias Pintscher with both the Cincinnati Symphony and the Kansas City Symphony; Bach’s Easter Oratorio and Magnificat with the San Francisco Symphony and longtime collaborator Bernard Labadie; Haydn's Mass in Time of War and Vaughan Williams's Dona Nobis Pacem with the Colorado Symphony under Taylor Martin; Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Yannick Nézet-Séguin; and Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Andris Nelsons at the Tanglewood Festival.

Recent operatic highlights include a series of notable company debuts throughout Germany: at the Bayerische Staatsoper as Guglielmo in Mozart’s Così fan tutte, at the Semperoper Dresden as Figaro in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia, and at the Staatsoper Berlin as Apollo/Angry Audience Member in Foccroulle's Cassandra following the work’s world premiere in 2023 at La Monnaie where he also made his house debut. He has made returns to The Metropolitan Opera in a signature role as Count Almaviva in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, which featured on a worldwide simulcast as part of The Met’s Live in HD series, and as Belcore in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore. Other appearances include the title role in Don Giovanni at the Hyogo Performing Arts Center, Japan; and Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia at The Santa Fe Opera in a new production by Stephen Barlow. Latest role debuts include Zurga in Les Pêcheurs de Perles at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées; lead role of Cavaliere di Belfiore in a new Christopher Alden production of Verdi’s Un giorno di regno at Garsington Opera; Dandini in Rossini’s La Cenerentola and Raimbaud in Rossini’s Le Comte Ory for Lyric Opera of Chicago; title role in Britten’s Billy Budd with Central City Opera; and Athanaël in a concert version of Massenet’s Thaïs with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Andrew Davis and recorded for Chandos Records.

Hopkins has developed a reputation for his work in contemporary operas by celebrated American composers, creating leading roles for the world premieres of new works both in the US and Europe. Recent original roles have included Orpheus in the world premiere of Matthew Aucoin and Sarah Ruhl’s Eurydice for Los Angeles Opera, which he also performed at The Metropolitan Opera including a worldwide simulcast for The Met’s Live in HD series; and Niccolò Machiavelli in the premiere of Mohammed Fairouz and David Ignatius’s The New Prince in his company debut for Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam.

Profoundly committed to the art of song, Hopkins’s first recital disc, Let Beauty Awake, features songs of Barber, Bowles, Glick, and Vaughan Williams on the ATMA Classique label.

2024/25 season / 898 words. Not to be altered without permission.