John Bernays

Australian baritone John Bernays was born in Queensland and studied at Queensland University and at New College, Oxford. In 2002 he joined the Royal Opera Chorus, where his many solo roles have included Official Registrar and Prince Yamadori (Madama Butterfly), Zaretsky (Eugene Onegin), Chernikovsky (Boris Godunov), Sergeant (Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk), Maître d’hôtel (La rondine), Third Inquisitor (Dom Sébastien, roi de Portugal), Musketeer (Cyrano de Bergerac), Third Gambler (The Gambler), Messenger (La traviata), Monsieur Javelinot (Dialogues des Carmélites) and Guard (Manon, ROH Japan tour).

Further engagements have included performances with English Touring Opera, Kent Opera and Scottish Opera Go Round, at the Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris, and for the Covent Garden and Salzburg festivals. His concert performances include Carmina Burana and Fauré’s Requiem at the Barbican, The Creation in Lichfield Cathedral and Australia and the War Requiem at the Three Choirs Festival, with recordings including Christus in Bach’s St John Passion for Naxos.