Captain Vere is ready for performance no. 4 of BILLY BUDD at @operadelyon. Toi toi toi to all of my fantastic colleagues!
Cast & Creative
Finnegan Downie Dear | Conductor
@RichardBrunel | Director
Paul Appleby | Captain Vere
@SeanMichaelPlumb | Billy Budd
@Derek.Welton | John Claggart
@Alexander.w.h.deJong | Mr. Redburn
@RafalPawnuk | Mr. Flint
@Daniel.Miroslaw | Lt. Ratcliffe
@OliverJohnston5580 | Red Whiskers
@MichalMarhold | Donald
Scott @Wildebass | Dansker
William Morgan | The Novice
@GuillaumeAndrieux_ | Novice‘s Friend
@FilippVarikOfficial | Squeak
@Benedict.Kearns | Choir Director
@Stephan_Zimmerli | Set Designer
Bruno de Lavenère | Costume Designer
Laurent Castaingt | Lighting Designer
🗓️ Performance Dates
March 21, 23, 27, 29, 31
April 2 & 4
#benjaminbritten #hermanmelville #operasinger #classicalmusician #timelapseart


A few production photos from Richard Brunel‘s wonderful new production of BILLY BUDD at @operadelyon
📷: Jean-Louis Fernandez
Cast & Creative
Finnegan Downie Dear | Conductor
@RichardBrunel | Director
Paul Appleby | Captain Vere
@SeanMichaelPlumb | Billy Budd
@Derek.Welton | John Claggart
@Alexander.w.h.deJong | Mr. Redburn
@RafalPawnuk | Mr. Flint
@Daniel.Miroslaw | Lt. Ratcliffe
@OliverJohnston5580 | Red Whiskers
@MichalMarhold | Donald
Scott @Wildebass | Dansker
William Morgan | The Novice
@GuillaumeAndrieux_ | Novice‘s Friend
@FilippVarikOfficial | Squeak
@Benedict.Kearns | Choir Director & Conductor
@Stephan_Zimmerli | Set Designer
Bruno de Lavenère | Costume Designer
Laurent Castaingt | Lighting Designer
🗓️ Performance Dates
March 21, 23, 27, 29, 31
April 2 & 4
#billybudd #benjaminbritten #operadelyon #performances #collaborations


Happy Birthday, Handel! Thank you for the all the amazing music I’ve been lucky enough to sing. I am looking forward to forward to some more great opportunities to sing your stuff in the coming years…
First up: MESSIAH with the @torontosymphony, December 2026.
📷 Handel’s SAUL at @Glyndebourne 2015
#otd #handel #saul #operasingersofinstagram #glyndebourne


Enjoying my return to this beautiful city and the superb company of @operadelyon for a new production of BILLY BUDD.
I never feel like I really know an opera until going through a full rehearsal process—we are having a rigorous and thorough one here to be sure. As I make my way through the many layers of this Britten masterpiece, I am amazed at its power and mystery, the intellectual and moral questions it grapples with, and the incredible score, orchestration and libretto. Vere is one if the greatest roles I’ve had the privilege of wrestling with and I am honored to bring this complex character to life with the wonderful CREW here in Lyon.
BILLY BUDD
An Opera by Benjamin Britten
Cast & Creative
Finnegan Downie Dear | Conductor
@richardbrunel | Director
@stephan_zimmerli | Set Designer
Bruno de Lavenère | Costume Designer
Laurent Castaingt | Lighting Designer
Paul Appleby | Captain Vere
@SeanMichaelPlumb | Billy Budd
@Derek.Welton | John Claggart
@Alexander.w.h.deJong | Mr. Redburn
@RafalPawnuk | Mr. Flint
@Daniel.Miroslaw | Lt. Ratcliffe
@OliverJohnston5580 | Red Whiskers
@MichalMarhold | Donald
Scott @Wildebass | Dansker
William Morgan | The Novice
@GuillaumeAndrieux_ | Novice‘s Friend
@FilippVarikOfficial | Squeak
@Benedict.Kearns | Choir Director & Conductor
@MichaelCobb_Conductor | Assistant Conductor
@cecilerestier & William Green | Répétiteurs
🗓️ Performance Dates
March 21, 23, 27, 29, 31
April 2 & 4


We all know John Adams to be the greatest American opera composer of our time, but I personally also happen to know him to be a mensch.
Of course I love singing his music (especially this Caesarian tour-de-force from ANTONY & CLEOPATRA) but I always enjoy the chance to hang with the conductor/composer/dude when the show’s over.
Happy 79th Birthday, Maestro!
From May 2025 @MetOpera
With the amazing @metoperachorus @metoperaactors @metorchestra
Videography by Neville Braithwaite / Met Opera
#operasingersofinstagram #operalover #operasingers #johnadams #newopera


An artistic highlight from last year for me was the opportunity to work with Sir Wayne McGregor on his production of Stravinsky’s OEDIPUS REX at Norwegian National Opera & Ballet @operaen_ . The production captured the essence of Stravinsky’s genius score—it illuminated the mysteries of the work that made its power immediate and undeniable. I’m very proud of our work together and very happy to have the chance to share it with you thanks to Opera Vision!
From JOCASTA‘S LINE
Sir Wayne McGregor | Director & Choreographer @studiowaynemcgregor
Vicki Mortimer | Stage & Costume Designer @vickimortimerscenechange
Lucy Carter | Lighting Designer @Lucycarterlightartdesign
@CharlottePoliti | Conductor
Norwegian National Opera Ballet, Orchestra and Chorus
With Paul Appleby, @SarahPConnolly, @MichaelMofidian, @Rafal_Siwek_bass, @JensErikAasbo, @MagnusStaveland and @BenWhishaw
Available on @OperaVision.eu until May 21, 2026
#operalife #stravinsky #liveperformances #operasinger #collaborations


I am very happy to share with you a new album of songs and chamber music by my friend Russell Platt, MOUNTAIN INTERVAL. It was my pleasure and honor to record the album’s lovely and well-crafted songs with the talented and prolific @MyraHuang. Among Russell’s many skills, I especially appreciate his excellent taste in poetry which these settings of Robert Frost, Paul Muldoon, and Elizabeth Bishop demonstrate. And a little tip to my fellow recitalists out there, these songs have great potential for your art song programs! Give them a try and you won’t be disappointed!
Special thanks to @BridgeRecords for releasing this fine album, and to our superb engineer, Silas Brown @professorsilas for such a flattering capture of our performance.
#classicalmusicians #newrelease #tbt #collaborations #artsong


Before I head to @OperadeLyon soon to sing my first Captain Vere in Britten‘s BILLY BUDD, I am looking back on a terrific 2025 at the @MetOpera. I got to bring John Adams’ Caesar from ANTONY & CLEOPATRA to New York last spring, revisited Mozart’s Ottavio from DON GIOVANNI this fall and capped it off by adding Tamino from the MAGIC FLUTE to my Met repertoire this holiday season. It is always a joy to work with all the amazing people in that building—all the folks who bring passion, care, skill, and commitment to their work and whose friendship I cherish as I look back on my work at the great @MetOpera.
#operasingersofinstagram #operalife #metopera #operalife #collaborations


Photo Credit: Pascal Victor (Festival d’Aix)
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