The Australian bass-baritone James Young is rapidly establishing himself as one of the most promising young singers of his generation.
During the 2025/2026 season, he will be a member of the ensemble at the Heidelberg Theatre, where he will appear as Don Alfonso in Mozart’s Così fan tutte, as Dancaïro in Bizet’s Carmen and as Faninal in Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier. In 2026, he will also appear as a bass soloist in Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.
In 2025, James made his role debut at the Trier Theatre as Dulcamara in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore to great acclaim. Der Volksfreund described him as “a veritable bundle of energy … with impressive vocal power and a flair for comedy”, while Eva-Maria Reuther wrote that he was “the star of the evening – a magnificent Dulcamara with remarkable presence and a wonderfully supple voice”.
During the 2024/2025 season, he was a member of the ensemble at the Hessian State Theatre Wiesbaden, where he appeared, among other roles, as Sparck in Offenbach’s Fantasio, Fiorello in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia, Sciarrone in Puccini’s Tosca and Schobiak in Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre.
In the same year, he became the first artist ever to be awarded Oceania’s two most prestigious opera prizes in a single year: the Joan Sutherland & Richard Bonynge Bel Canto Award (First Prize and Audience Prize) and the 101st Herald Sun Aria. OperaWire described his Bel Canto performance as “one of the best in the competition’s 15-year history” and highlighted his vocal control and dramatic range. He also received the Emerging Bass Award at the International Opera Awards during the Concorso Lirico Internazionale di Portofino, as well as Third Prize (the Richard E. McGinty Award) at the 2024 Houston Saengerbund Competition.
His previous honours include Second Prize (Richard Bonynge Award) and the Special Prize for Mozart/Handel at the 2023 Bel Canto Award, as well as First Prize and the Audience Prize at the German-Australian Opera Grant Competition.
His most recent stage roles include the title role in Rachmaninoff’s Aleko, the Speaker in Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Baculus in Lortzing’s Der Wildschütz and Masetto in Don Giovanni. He has also appeared in Yilin Yang’s The Waves and in rarely performed works by Carl Orff, including Prometheus and De temporum fine comoedia, at the Bayreuth Festival of Young Artists.
Before moving to Germany, James performed extensively in Australia and Asia. He undertook major international tours in China as Amonasro in Verdi’s Aida and as Count Almaviva in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, and appeared in Australia in roles including Presto in Poulenc’s Les Mamelles de Tirésias, Luigi D’Albertis in Barry Conyngham’s Fly, and Masetto in Don Giovanni.
He studied with Professor Susanne Kelling at Nuremberg University of Music, where he obtained Master’s degrees in Music Theatre and Concert Singing. He is also a scholarship holder of Yehudi Menuhin Live Music Now and the Marten Bequest.
Share