Biography

Praised for his “charismatic voice and presence” (The Guardian) and “dynamic vocalism” (The Stage), British-Irish baritone Jolyon Loy’s performances in 25/26 include Moralès & cover Escamillo in Calixto Beito’s production of Carmen at English National Opera; Vaughan Williams Five Mystical Songs with Sinfonia Viva; Joseph in Berlioz L’enfance du Christ with Cambridge Philharmonic; the title role in Don Giovanni with the Irish Baroque Orchestra under Peter Whelan for Blackwater Valley Opera Festival and his debut as William in Philip Glass’ The Fall of the House of Usher at Theater an der Wien.

Highlights of 24/25 include Marullo Rigoletto at the Tiroler Festspiele Erl alongside Ludovic Tézier & Luca Salsi, conducted by Asher Fisch; Paolo in David Pountney's production of Simon Boccanegra at Grange Park Opera alongside Sir Simon Keenlyside; Earl of Morton & cover James Stewart in Musgrave’s Mary, Queen of Scots for English National Opera; cover Onegin Eugene Onegin and his mainstage debut as Schaunard La bohème at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, conducted by Speranza Scappucci, and Escamillo Carmen for a G7 Opera Gala at Teatro Filarmonico di Verona with the Orchestra dell’Arena di Verona under Francesco Ommassini.

Jolyon’s breakthrough performances came in 2022/23 as Aye in Phelim McDermott’s Olivier Award-winning production of Akhnaten for English National Opera and Tarquinius in Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia, staged at the Royal Opera House’s Linbury Theatre, Snape Maltings Concert Hall and broadcast on BBC Radio 3. Directed by Oliver Mears & conducted by Corinna Niemeyer, his portrayal earned universal praise, described as: “brilliantly played by Jolyon Loy, his tensile, dynamic vocalism underlining his menace” (The Stage); “Loy’s bright, virile voice is impressive, ringing out with formidable top notes” (Musical America); and “seems all the more dangerously psychopathic for being so charismatic of both voice and presence” (The Guardian).

Further roles include cover Mr Kallenbach Satyagraha for English National Opera; 1st Priest / 2nd Armed Man Die Zauberflöte & Wächter Die Frau ohne Schatten at the Verbier Festival; Figaro Le nozze di Figaro as an Opera Holland Park Young Artist; Don Alfonso Così fan tutte as a Garsington Opera Alvarez Young Artist; Minskman Flight for Opera Collective Ireland; Aeneas Dido & Aeneas at the Vache Baroque Festival; Leone Tamerlano with Cambridge Handel Opera; Zoroastro Orlando at Buxton International Festival; Sonora La fanciulla del West for Wexford Festival Opera; Owen Hart Dead Man Walking, Papageno The Magic Flute, Peter Hansel & Gretel, Count Almaviva Le nozze di Figaro, Lesbo Agrippina & Marco Gianni Schicchi.

Jolyon’s awards include an Extraordinary Prize at the 60th Tenor Viñas Competition, 2nd Prize & the Bayreuth Festival Stipendium at the 2019 Wagner Society Singing Competition at Wigmore Hall, a Glyndebourne New Generation Young Artist Development Award, a Countess of Munster Award, and the Richard Van Allan Award from Help Musicians UK. Nominated for a Gramophone Award, his recorded work includes Apollo in Eccles’ Semele with the Academy of Ancient Music under Julian Perkins, released on AAM Records, and 'Songs from Faust', released in 2024 on Champs Hill Records. In recital, Loy has appeared with Iain Burnside at Ludlow English Song Weekend and with James Baillieu as part of the Verbier Festival's Atelier Lyrique.

In concert, Jolyon has worked with Laurence Cummings, Christian Curnyn & Philippe Herreweghe, his performances including Messiah with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra at Symphony Hall; Ghost of Samuel Saul & Bach St Matthew Passion for Dartington International Festival, Handel Dixit Dominus at the National Opera House, Wexford; Valens Theodora at Snape Maltings Concert Hall; Vaughan Williams Serenade to Music & Rossi Songs of Solomon with Vache Baroque, broadcast as part of BBC Radio 3's Lunchtime Concert series at St John’s, Smith Square. His repertoire spans Bach B Minor Mass, Duruflé Requiem, Orff Carmina Burana, Dupré De Profundis, Puccini Messa di Gloria & Fauré Requiem.

Jolyon is a graduate of the National Opera Studio in London where he performed with the orchestras of English National Opera, Opera North & Welsh National Opera at Cadogan Hall; St David’s Hall, Cardiff and the London Coliseum in roles such as Billy Billy Budd, Guglielmo Così fan tutte, Aleko Aleko & Belcore L’elisir d’amore. He is an alumnus of the Verbier Festival’s Atelier Lyrique, the Britten Pears YAP, Internationale OpernWerkstatt: Festival der Jungen Stimmen, British Youth Opera, Garsington Opera’s Alvarez Programme, the Opera Holland Park YAP, Opera Prelude, and the Glyndebourne Chorus. Jolyon trained at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, the Royal Academy of Music and was formerly a choral scholar at Magdalen College, University of Oxford, where he read French and Italian. He began singing as a boy chorister and lay clerk at Worcester Cathedral.