New Zealand Bass, Paul Whelan is a winner of the Cardiff Singer of the World Lieder Prize. Conductors with whom he has collaborated include Sir Simon Rattle, Kent Nagano, Richard Hickox, Yehudi Menuhin, Valery Gergiev, Gary Bertini, and Vassily Sinaisky; he has given recitals at Wigmore Hall, The Purcell Room, Cardiff’s St David’s Hall, Cheltenham Festival, BBC Pebble Mill, Perth Festival and at the Chátelet Theatre in Paris.

In 2019 Paul sang at Théâtre des Champs-Elysée in the role of Commendatore (Don Giovanni, Garsington Opera). Paul travels to Teatro Municipal de Santiago to sing the role of High Pried of Bel (Nabucco) and presents the world premiere of Stuart MacRae’s opera Anthropocene in the role of Captain Ross for Scotish Opera and also stepped into the role of Dikoj (Katya Kabanova).  While singing Commendatore at Garsington Opera he also sang the role of Mícha (The Batered Bride).  In his native New Zealand Paul joined Christchurch Symphony Orchestra for performances of Mozart Requiem. In 2020 Paul performed the roles of Cadmus/Sonmus (Semele, New Zealand Opera).  In 2021 Paul performed the roles of Captain James Cook (Star Navigator, NZ Opera), Commendatore (Don Giovanni, Wellington Opera), Rocco (Fidelio, Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra), King Hildebrand/Mr North Wind (The Enchanted Pig, Australian Contemporary Opera Company), The Bells (Bach Music), Brahms German Requiem (Christchurch City Choir), Proms Concert (Christchurch Symphony Orchestra), Missa Solemnis (New Zealand Symphony Orchestra) and Handel’s Messiah (Dunedin and Auckland).

Paul has also performed at Opera New Orleans in the role of Timur (Turandt), the roles of Nettuno, Tempo and Antinoo (Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, The Grange Festival).  He added the role of Sarastro (Die Zauberflöte, Hawaii Opera Theatre) to his repertoire, in Geneva he joined the Grand Theatre to perform  the role of Quince (A Midsummer Night’s Dream ) for their new production, he appeared in the role of Claudio (Hamlet, Gothenburg Opera), Daland  (Der fliegende Holländer, Hawaii Opera Theatre and New Zealand Opera), Giorgio (I Puritani, Boston Lyric Opera and Victorian Opera), he debuted the role of Nick Shadow (The Rake’s Progress,  Opera New Zealand), Banco (Macbeth, Opera North) and Titurel (Parsifal, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra).  

Recently, Paul made his house debut at Lyric Opera of Kansas City in the role of Gremin (Eugene Onegin) winning outstanding reviews. In Norway he performed Haydn Creation with the Norwegian Arctic Philharmonic Orchestra and Hagen in selections from Götterdämmerung (Jacksonville Symphony).

Highlights of Paul’s international career include the title role in Bluebeard’s Castle (NBR Opera New Zealand), Four Villains (Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Southern Opera),  Argante (Handel’s Rinaldo, Munich), Apollon (Alceste, Dresden Festival), a staged production of Bach’s St. John Passion (directed by Deborah Warner), Schaunard in a new production of Leoncavallo’s La bohème, Raimondo (Lucia di Lammermoor, English National Opera), Escamillo (Carmen, Welsh National Opera), Harry Joy (Bliss, Hamburg State Opera), the world premieres of The Assassin Tree by Stuart MacRae (Royal Opera House and the Edinburgh Festival), and Bird of Night by Dominique Legendre ( Royal Opera House, Covent Garden).

Past successes include the artist’s return to Opera Australia as Ramfis (Aida) and Grant Park Music Festival in Chicago (Beethoven’s Mass in C).  He sang Jesus in fully staged performances of St. Matthew Passion (Brisbane), and Seneca in a new production of L’Incoronazione di Poppea (Lille and Dijon). Other notable appearances include Theseus (A Midsummer Night’s Dream, English National Opera), Collatinus (The Rape of Lucretia, Opera Norway) and Bach’s St. Matthew Passion (Leeds International Concert Season). Additionally, he appeared at Glyndebourne in two other roles: Claggart (Billy Budd), and Alidoro (La Cenerentola). He sang his first Wotan (Das Rheingold, Auckland Philharmonic) to critical acclaim.

Concert appearances include Stanford’s Songs of the Fleet (Ulster Orchestra), Mountararat in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Iolanthe (San Francisco Symphony), Priest and Angel of Agony (The Dream of Gerontius, Grant Park Music Festival -Chicago, Berlin, Salisbury and New Zealand), the bass soloist in Mozart’s Coronation Mass for Eugene Symphony Orchestra, St. Matthew’s Passion for the London Bach Choir at Festival Hall; the world premiere of Terra Incognita (New Zealand Symphony Orchestra), a symphonic cantata for bass soloist and choir written for the artist by Gareth Farr.

Other orchestral engagements include St. Matthew Passion (City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and London Bach Choir), Judas (The Apostles, Leeds Festiva)l, Mussorgsky’s Songs and Dances of Death (Ulster Orchestra recorded for BBC Radio 3), Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast (Orquesta Sinfonica de Madrid - broadcast live), a series of concerts with Sir Charles Mackerras and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra; Schoenberg’s Gurrelieder (Bolshoi Theatre -Moscow), Delius’s Sea Drift (Osaka) and Valens (Handel’s Theodora, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Winterthur, Switzerland).

Recordings include A Midsummer Night’s Dream with the London Symphony Orchestra under Sir Colin Davis (Philips), Kurt Weill’s Silber See under Markus Stenz (BMG); recordings with the BBC Philharmonic for Chandos and with the BBC Scottish Symphony for Hyperion.