London-born bass-baritone Tristan Hambleton read Art History at St John’s College, Cambridge and Heidelberg Universität before training in voice and opera at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Since then, he has developed an impressive international career across opera, oratorio, concert and recital repertoire, performing at some of Europe’s most prestigious venues and festivals.
Tristan’s operatic work spans both classical and contemporary repertoire. He sang King Priam in Berlioz’s Les Troyens with the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique under Dinis Sousa at the Berlin Philharmonie during Musikfest Berlin and at the BBC Proms. Other notable engagements include Father Truelove in Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra conducted by Barbara Hannigan, Madman and Witness 3 in George Benjamin’s Lessons in Love and Violence with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra under the baton of Sir George Benjamin, and Pluto and Pan in Locke’s Psyche with Ensemble Correspondances conducted by Sébastien Daucé in Hamburg and Vienna.
He sang the role of Captain Ross in Stuart MacRae’s Anthropocene with the Mozarteum Orchestra at Landestheater Salzburg, and performed Karl in David Bruce’s Nothing at Glyndebourne under Sian Edwards and directed by Bijan Sheibani. At Opéra National de Bordeaux, he appeared as Marchese in Verdi’s La Traviata conducted by Paul Daniels, and sang Tom in Un Ballo in Maschera for Welsh National Opera under Carlo Rizzi and directed by Sir David Pountney.
Further roles include Herman Ortel in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg with the Hallé Orchestra under Sir Mark Elder, Angelotti in Tosca and Marullo in Rigoletto with Nevill Holt Opera, and Quince in A Midsummer Night’s Dream with the same company. At Opera de Lille, Theatre de Caen, Opera Antwerp and Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg, he sang Envy and High Priest with Le Concert d’Astrée under Emmanuelle Haïm. He also performed Claudio in Handel’s Agrippina at Royaumont with Mariame Clément.
A passionate concert artist, Tristan has performed widely across Europe in major oratorio and symphonic works. Recent engagements include the Bass Soloist in Handel’s Israel in Egypt with the English Baroque Soloists under Peter Whelan at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Palau de la Música Catalana, Versailles, Luxembourg Philharmonie, and the Salzburg Festival. He was also Bass Soloist in Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem and Handel’s Messiah with the London Mozart Players at Canterbury Cathedral.
He has sung Mozart’s Requiem with both the Hallé Orchestra at the Bridgewater Hall and with the English Chamber Orchestra, and performed as Christus in Bach’s St Matthew Passion with the Oxford Philharmonic, as well as the Bass soloist in the same work with the London Handel Festival. Other engagements include Elgar’s The Apostles (Peter) with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Purcell’s Odes and Welcome Songs with Le Banquet Céleste at Opéra de Rennes, and Bach’s St John Passion with various UK ensembles.
Tristan was selected for the prestigious Mozart Residency at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence and has worked under conductors including Sir George Benjamin, Emmanuelle Haïm, Sir Mark Elder, Barbara Hannigan, Peter Whelan, Carlo Rizzi, Sébastien Daucé, Graeme Jenkins, Sian Edwards, Nicholas Cleobury, and Dinis Sousa.
A committed interpreter of contemporary music, he recently performed the role of Le Daron in Edwin Baudo’s La Victoire de Karima for the Orchestre de Paris, staged by Anaïs de Courson as part of the Paris 2024 Olympic cultural programme.
Tristan’s debut recording, Day of these Days, a recital disc with pianist Simon Lepper, will be released on Delphian Records in March 2026.