Australian tenor Alasdair Kent is known for “his evenly produced tenor, refined technique and intense expressiveness,” (Opera News) a voice “of great clarity, and of beautiful projection,” (Opera Online) and for marrying “striking good looks with delicious sound.” (San Francisco Classical Voice) An internationally-acclaimed interpreter of Rossini and Mozart, his high tenor repertoire also encompasses the Romantic music of Bellini, Donizetti and Bizet, as well as the Baroque and early-Classical music of Rameau and Gluck. Recent engagements include performances with the Wiener Staatsoper, Teatro Real Madrid, Teatro alla Scala, the Bayerische Staatsoper, Opernhaus Zürich, the Rossini Opera Festival and the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence.
Alasdair Kent’s 2025-26 season includes his house debut with the Opéra national de Paris as Hyllo in Antonia Bembo’s Ercole amante in a new production signed by Netia Jones and conducted by Leonardo Garcia Alarcon, and his house debut at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden as Almaviva in Ruth Berghaus’ historic production of Il Barbiere di Siviglia. He makes returns to the Teatro Regio di Torino as Belmonte in Die Entführung aus dem Serail conducted by Gianluca Capuano, to Opera Philadelphia as Libenskof in Il viaggio a Reims in Damiano Michieletto’s production conducted by
Corrado Rovaris, and to Den Norske Opera & Ballett as Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia. In concert, he tours with Christophe Rousset and Les Talens Lyriques, singing Aceste in Mozart’s Ascanio in Alba with the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Theater an der Wien and in his house debut with the Opéra de Lausanne. He also appears at Cadogan Hall with the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestras in a concert program of Rossini conducted by Jakob Lehmann, as Orest in excerpts from Ermione and as the tenor soloist in his Stabat mater.
Kent’s repertoire of Rossini’s leading men includes numerous performances of: Il Conte d’Almaviva (Il Barbiere di Siviglia) Wiener Staatsoper, Bayerische Staatsoper, The Dallas Opera, Opéra de Montréal; Don Ramiro (La Cenerentola) Bayerische Staatsoper, Deutsche Oper am Rhein; Lindoro (L’italiana in Algeri) Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Opéra national de Montpellier, Hungarian State Opera; Don Narciso (Il turco in Italia) Opernhaus Zürich, Opéra national de Lyon; Belfiore (Il viaggio a Reims) Rossini Opera Festival; Idreno (Semiramide) Opéra de Rouen, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées; Argirio (Tancredi) Teatro Petruzzelli di Bari, and; Norfolc (Elisabetta, regina d’Inghilterra) Teatro Massimo di Palermo. His Mozartian repertoire includes: Ferrando (Così fan tutte) Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg; Belmonte (Die Entführung aus dem Serail) Bayerische Staatsoper; Tamino (Die Zauberflöte) Israeli Opera, Royal Opera House Muscat; Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni) Opéra de Toulon, and; Marzio (Mitridate, re di Ponto) Teatro alla Scala, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées.
Other roles include Arturo (I puritani) at Ópera de Oviedo; Ernesto (Don Pasquale) at the Teatro Petruzzelli di Bari; Achille (Iphigénie en Aulide) at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence; Pylade (Iphigénie en Tauride) at Teatro de la Maestranza; the title role in Haydn’s Orlando Paladino at Teatro Real Madrid and Gran Teatre del Liceu; Pepé (Deux hommes et une femme) at the Konzerthaus Berlin; Timur (Cublai, gran kan de’ Tartari) at Theater an der Wien; Thespis (Platée) at Opernhaus Zürich; Paolino (Il matrimonio segreto) at the Festival della Valle d’Itria and Teatro Regio di Torino; and Frederic (The Pirates of Penzance) at West Australian Opera.
In concert he has appeared in Carmina Burana with Opera Philadelphia, Rossini’s Messa di Gloria with the Orchestre de Pau Pays de Béarn, Stravinsky’s Pulcinella with the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI and in gala concerts at Carnegie Hall for the Licia Albanese-Puccini and the Gerda Lissner Foundations. His recordings include the Lute Song in Britten’s Symphonic Suite from Gloriana with Ivor Bolton and Sinfonieorchester Basel and L’italiana in Algeri recorded live at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam.
Kent is a graduate of the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, alumnus of Opera Philadelphia’s Emerging Artist Program, Wolf Trap Opera’s Filene Young Artist Program, San Francisco Opera’s Merola Opera Program, and the Lisa Gasteen National Opera School. The tenor has won First Prizes in the Joan Sutherland and Richard Bonynge Foundation Bel Canto Award, the Gerda Lissner Foundation International Vocal Competition, the Loren L. Zachary Society National Vocal Competition, the Mildred Miller International Voice Competition, the Violetta DuPont Vocal Competition, and both First Prize and the Audience Prize in the Academy of Vocal Arts’ Giargiari Bel Canto Competition. He was also awarded the Marten Bequest by the Australia Council, one of Australia’s most important artistic awards. He makes his home in Basel, Switzerland and can be found on Instagram, Facebook, X and Tiktok under @alasdairkent.
July 2025