Biography

Stuart Skelton is one of the finest heldentenors on the stage today, critically acclaimed for his outstanding musicianship, tonal beauty, and intensely dramatic portrayals.

Richard Wagner’s music takes center stage in Stuart Skelton’s 2025–26 season. He makes his debut with the Korean National Opera in a new production of Tristan und Isolde, conducted by long-time collaborator Jaap van Zweden. A robust season also features major Wagner concert performances, including Die Walküre (Act I) with the Gulbenkian Orchestra under Hannu Lintu; Die Walküre (Act I) with the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra and van Zweden; and Wagner Gala concerts with soprano Nina Stemme and the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. He sings concert performances of Tristan und Isolde with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and van Zweden as well as with the Houston Symphony and Juraj Valčuha.

Last season, Skelton gave critically acclaimed performances of Tristan und Isolde in semi-staged performances with Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Philadelphia Orchestra, as well as concert performances of Parsifal and Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with Marek Janowski leading the NHK Symphony Orchestra.

Recent operatic highlights for Skelton include Tristan und Isolde at Teatro San Carlo under Constantin Trinks, at Glyndebourne with Robin Ticciati, and at Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville under Henrik Nánási. He also has appeared at the Bayerische Staatsoper in productions of Parsifal, conducted by Marek Janowski, and Peter Grimes led by Edward Gardner. With the Wiener Staatsoper, Skelton joined Philippe Jordan for a Wagner Gala under the auspices of the Musikverein für Steiermark in Graz and he returned to the main stage as Siegmund in Die Walküre conducted by Axel Kober.

Skelton’s first solo album, Shining Knight, presents a program of Wagner, Griffes, and Barber accompanied by the West Australian Symphony Orchestra. His expansive recording catalogue also includes Tristan und Isolde, Britten’s Peter Grimes, Schoenberg’s Gurre-Lieder, a Grammy Award-nominated Janáček Glagolitic Mass, a Gramophone Magazineaward-winning recording of Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius, Die Walküre, Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, and Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde. He has contributed to four recordings of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen.