Oliver Johnston

Praised for his “strong and vibrant tenor” (MusicOMH), British tenor Oliver Johnston is enjoying a flourishing career, both in the UK and internationally. 

Recent and upcoming highlights include Red Whiskers Billy Budd for Opéra National de Lyon; Fourth Jew in concert performances of Salome with the London Symphony Orchestra/Sir Antonio Pappano; Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana for Blackheath Halls; Sir Christopher Hatton The Critic for Wexford Opera Festival; Erik The Flying Dutchman for Opera North; Bob Boles Peter Grimes for Welsh National Opera; and a recital at Oxford International Song Festival with Natalie Burch. Future seasons see Oliver return to Blackheath Halls. 

Oliver’s roles include Tichon Káťa Kabanová for Opéra National de Lyon; Jenik The Bartered Bride for Garsington Opera; Seemann/Ein Hirt in Tristan und Isolde for Opéra de Rouen; High Priest in Idomeneo for Teatro Real, Madrid and Opera di Roma; Alfredo in La traviata for Opera North; Walther in Blond Eckbert and Damon in Acis and Galatea for the Potsdam Winter Opera/Potsdam Kammerakademie; Miro in Anna for the Grange Festival; Don Jose inCarmen for Opera Holland Park; Italian in Tenor Der Rosenkavalier for Garsington Opera; Jacquino in Fidelio for Opera North; Ein Soldat in Der Kaiser von Atlantis with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Mademoiselle Bouillabaisse in Offenbach’s Mesdames de la Halle for the Glyndebourne Festival. 

His concert engagements have included Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius with the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra/Alexander Walker; Vaughan-Williams’ Serenade to Music with the London Philharmonic Orchestra/Vladimir Jurowski and at the The Last Night of the Proms with the BBC Symphony Orchestra/Sakari Oramo; 2nd Nazarene in concert performances of Salome with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra/Kirill Karabits; Handel’s Messiah with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra/ Sofi Jeannin; Beethoven Symphony No.9 with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra/Edo de Waart and with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Christopher Warren-Green and Mozart Requiem with the Kyoto Symphony Orchestra; Beethoven’s Mass in C with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic/Matthew Hall and Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Philharmonia Orchestra/David Hill. 

Oliver is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music and was a participant in the Salzburg Festival’s Young Singers Project.

Updated September 2025