Joshua Hopkins

Hopkins opens his 2025/26 season with a return 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, New York. He also performs Figaro in Emilio Sagi’s production of Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia for San Francisco Opera. Concert highlights include Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast at the Romanian Athenaeum, Bucharest with the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Paul Daniel, and a performance of his most personal work, Songs for Murdered Sisters, with Canada’s Victoria Symphony Orchestra conducted by Christian Kluxen.

Songs for Murdered Sisters, is a song cycle by composer Jake Heggie and author Margaret Atwood, conceived by Hopkins in remembrance of his sister, Nathalie Warmerdam. Following critically acclaimed film and album releases, the chamber version of Songs for Murdered Sisters received its live world premiere with the composer at the piano at Houston’s Rothko Chapel in March 2022, in partnership with Houston Grand Opera. In 2023/24, Joshua gave the live world premiere of the work's orchestral version alongside Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra under the baton of Alexander Shelley in Ottawa, Toronto and Kingston, and the European premiere of the cycle at the Trasimeno Festival in Perugia, Italy with pianist Angela Hewitt. Last season he performed the work with the Naples Philharmonic and with the Philadelphia Orchestra at Carnegie Hall conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

Last season, Hopkins made company debuts at the Bayerische Staatsoper as Guglielmo in Mozart’s Così fan tutte 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 made his house debut. Other recent operatic highlights have included his company debut at Semperoper Dresden as Figaro in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia, and subsequent appearances in the house as Maximillian in Bernstein’s Candide and Papageno. He recently returned to the Canadian Opera Company as Malatesta in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale, and to Los Angeles Opera as Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia. Other appearances include the Hyogo Performing Arts Center, Japan, in the title role of Don Giovanni; a return to The Metropolitan Opera as Belcore in Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’amore and to reprise the role of Papageno in Julie Taymor’s renowned production of The Magic Flute; role debuts as Dandini in Rossini’s La Cenerentola for Lyric Opera of Chicago, Raimbaud in Rossini’s Le Comte Ory and Belcore in L’Elisir d’amore, both at the Lyric Opera of Chicago conducted by Enrique Mazzola; the title role of Britten’s Billy Budd with Central City Opera; Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia at The Santa Fe Opera in a new production by Stephen Barlow; 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. Past seasons have featured the roles of Count Almaviva in  Le nozze di Figaro at the Glyndebourne Festival, Verbier Festival, Dallas Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Seattle Opera and Washington National Opera; Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia in house debuts at Opéra de Rouen and Den Norske Opera in Oslo, as well as Canadian Opera Company, Vancouver Opera, Opera Lyra Ottawa, and the Glimmerglass Festival in a new production by Francesca Zambello; Guglielmo in Così fan tutte in his company debut for Oper Frankfurt and for Lyric Opera of Chicago; Silvio in Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci for Palm Beach Opera, directed by James Robinson; Papageno for the Metropolitan Opera, The Santa Fe Opera, Canadian Opera Company, Washington National Opera, Vancouver Opera, as well as Marcello in Puccini’s La bohème for the Canadian Opera Company and Houston Grand Opera in a new production by John Caird.

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 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; Harry Bailey in Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s It’s a Wonderful Life for Houston Grand Opera and in his debut for San Francisco Opera; and creating the role of 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 as part of The Met’s Live in HD series.

Hopkins made his Metropolitan Opera debut in the 2009/10 season as Ping in Puccini’s Turandot, conducted by Andris Nelsons. Other notable past engagements include Cecil in Sir David McVicar’s new production of Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda conducted by Maurizio Benini for The Metropolitan Opera, his Lyric Opera of Chicago debut as Tadeusz in David Pountney’s acclaimed production of Weinberg’s The Passenger, and his role debut in the title role of Don Giovanni for Utah Opera. Further highlights include the role of Junior in Bernstein’s A Quiet Place for New York City Opera, Sid in Britten’s Albert Herring for Santa Fe Opera under the baton of Sir Andrew Davis, Dr. Falke in a new production of Strauss’s Die Fledermaus for Santa Fe Opera, Mercutio in Bartlett Sher’s production of Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette for Lyric Opera of Chicago and The Metropolitan Opera, and Valentin in Gounod’s Faust for Houston Grand Opera and Washington National Opera.

Past concert engagements have included Fauré’s Requiem and Handel’s Messiah with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Messiah with Jane Glover and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with the Orchestra of St Luke’s at Carnegie Hall. Hopkins has performed Haydn’s Mass in Time of War with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Peter Lieberson’s Songs of Love and Sorrow with the Monterey Symphony and in his European concert debut with the Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias in Spain; Brahms Ein deutsches Requiem with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and Houston Symphony; Bach’s Magnificat with Orchestra of St. Luke’s under the baton of Robert Spano at Carnegie Hall; and both Nielsen’s Symphony No. 3 and Mozart’s Mass in C minor with the New York Philharmonic under the baton of Alan Gilbert. Hopkins toured North America with Bernard Labadie and Les Violons du Roy giving performances of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio and Handel’s Messiah in Quebec, Montreal, Los Angeles, and at Carnegie Hall; performed and recorded Bach’s St. John Passion with Portland Baroque Orchestra and Arion Orchestre Baroque; and performed Handel’s Messiah with many symphonies across North America, including San Francisco Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, National Arts Centre Orchestra, and National Symphony Orchestra. Additional concert highlights include his debut with the Cleveland Orchestra under the baton of Vladimir Ashkenazy in performances of Grieg’s Peer Gynt, Haydn’s Creation with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and Handel’s Dettingen Te Deum with the San Francisco Symphony.

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. He has given recitals in Chicago, Montreal, New York, Santa Fe, Toronto, Vancouver and Washington, D.C.. Highlights of his varied appearances at Carnegie Hall include the world premiere of Michael Tilson Thomas’s Rilke Songs, a concert highlighting Benjamin Britten performing alongside Ian Bostridge and Iestyn Davies, and more recently joining the Met Orchestra Chamber Ensemble for an all-French programme. Hopkins has collaborated with Julius Drake, Richard Goode, Marc-André Hamelin, Angela Hewitt, Graham Johnson, and Warren Jones.

Hopkins has won numerous awards and distinctions. Most recently, he won a JUNO Award for his portrayal of Athanaël in Chandos Record’s recording of Massenet’s Thaïs in concert with Toronto Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Andrew Davis. He was the winner of both the Verbier Festival Academy’s 2008 Prix d’Honneur and the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award in 2006. He was also a prizewinner at the prestigious 2006 ARD Musikwettbewerb in Munich and at the 2005 Operalia Competition held in Madrid. In 2002, José Carreras presented him with the first-place prize in the Julián Gayarre International Singing Competition in Pamplona. Hopkins has also received prizes from the George London Foundation, the Jacqueline Desmarais Foundation, and won the Sylva Gelber Foundation Award from the Canada Council for the Arts.

2024/25 season / 1472 words. Not to be altered without permission.