Thomas Oliemans

Dutch baritone Thomas Oliemans has become one of the most compelling and versatile performers on today’s international opera and concert stages. Praised for his musical intelligence and charismatic presence, he made a celebrated debut at theMetropolitan Opera as Papageno — described as “a singular Papageno” (The New York Times) and “the star of the show” (New YorkClassical Review).

In the 2025/26 season, Mr Oliemans returns to Teatro Real Madrid as Theseus in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and performs in major concert works across Europe. Highlights include the world premiere of Luca Francesconi’s Ramificazioni Timon Études at the Verdi Festival Parma, Schubert orchestral songs with the Philharmonie Zuid, Haydn’s Die Schöpfung with the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, Mahler’s 8th Symphony with the Nord Nederlands Orchestra, Berlioz’s L’Enfance du Christ with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra as well as Bach’s St Matthew Passion with the North Netherlands Orchestra, among others. Numerous recitals, including at the Oxford International Song Festival with Paolo Giacometti, round off the coming year.

His operatic career spans leading roles at Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Staatsoper Berlin, Dutch National Opera, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Salzburg Festival, Liceu Barcelona, English National Opera, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, and Opéra National du Rhin, among others. His repertoire includes roles such as Papageno/Die Zauberflöte, Figaro, Il Conte di Almaviva/Le nozze di Figaro, Guglielmo, Don Alfonso/Cosi fan tutte, Mr. Redburn/Billy Budd, Schaunard, Marcello/La Bohème, Faninal/Der Rosenkavalier, Peter Besenbinder/Hänsel und Gretel, Father-in- Law/Innocence (Saariaho), Valmont/Quartet (Francesconi), Le Témoin/L’Apokalypse Arabe (Odeh-Tamimi), Pluto/Eurydice – Die Liebenden blind (Trohjahn), Bill/Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny, Hamlet/Hamlet, Gonsalvo Fieschi/Die Gezeichneten, Lescaut/Manon Lescaut, Eisenstein, Dr. Falke/Die Fledermaus, Harlekin/Ariadne auf Naxos, Gunther/Die Götterdämmerung, Donner/Das Rheingold and Kothner/Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg showcasing a range from Mozart to contemporary opera.

Thomas Oliemans has collaborated with world-renowned conductors including Daniel Barenboim, Ivor Bolton, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Natalie Stutzmann, Raphaël Pichon, Marc Albrecht, Hartmut Haenchen, Antonello Manacorda, Peter Dijkstra, Markus Stenz, Jaap van Zweden, James Gaffigan, Simone Young, Karina Canellakis, Vasily Petrenko and with orchestras and ensembles such as the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Yomiuri Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble Pygmalion and the Amsterdam Sinfonietta.

A distinguished concert artist, his repertoire includes Bach’s Passions, Mahler’s song cycles, Das Lied von der Erde, Symphony, no.8, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Zemlinsky’s Lyrische Sinfonie, Frank Martin’s Jedermann-Monologe, and recent performances of Pintscher’s Shirim and Tawfiq’s Requiem des Fleurs et des Nuages.

As a recitalist, he has performed at Wigmore Hall, Musikverein Vienna, Tokyo Opera City, and in Paris, Zürich, New York, andToronto, often partnering with pianists Malcolm Martineau, Roger Vignoles, and Paolo Giacometti.

Thomas Oliemans is a regular guest at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and was artist in residence there in 2022/23. Highly praised bycritics and public are his solo recitals of Schubert’s Winterreise accompanying himself on the piano. In preparation for these recitals, herecorded a 25 episodes podcast on behalf of the Concertgebouw. Together with Dutch journalist and moderator Gijs Groenteman hepresents the cycle with its musical, literary and emotional aspects to the public. Following up the great success of this series, Concertgebouw produced a new podcast series with him in 2024 featuring Bach’s St Mathew Passion followed by Mahler’s nine completed Symphonies in 2025.

He curated the 2019 Delft Chamber Music Festival, regularly teaches masterclasses at institutions such as the Dutch National Opera Studio, Amsterdam Music Conservatory, and Academia Reina Sofía, and has served on the jury of the International VocalCompetition s’Hertogenbosch.

His discography includes Schumann’s Dichterliebe, Schubert’s song cycles, Poulenc and Fauré songs, Brahms’ Eindeutsches Requiem, Mendelssohn’s Elias, Frank Martin’s works, and a widely praised recording of Brahms’ Die schöne Magelone with Malcolm Martineau.

Updated September 2025