Simon O'Neill (born 1971) is a New Zealand-born operatic tenor.
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O'Neill was born in Ashburton, New Zealand and received his musical training at the University of Otago, Victoria University of Wellington, graduating with an honours degree in music, before receiving scholarships to the Manhattan School of Music (where he earned a Master of Music degree in 2000) and the Juilliard Opera Center.
While studying at the Juilliard Opera Center, he sang the title role in Idomeneo, Sam Polk in Susannah, and Chevalier de la Force in Dialogues of the Carmelites under the baton of Julius Rudel. Subsequently at San Francisco's Merola Opera Program, he performed Rodolfo in La bohème as well as the title role in La clemenza di Tito with Wolf Trap Opera. In 2004, O'Neill was the subject of a BBC documentary The Understudy about his contract at the Metropolitan Opera to cover Siegmund for Plácido Domingo in the Met's production of Die Walküre.[1]
Currently principal artist with the Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and the Salzburg Festival, he has worked with conductors such as James Levine, Riccardo Muti, Daniel Barenboim, Valery Gergiev, Antonio Pappano, Sir Charles Mackerras, Seiji Ozawa, Donald Runnicles, Julius Rudel, Daniele Gatti and Christoph Eschenbach.
He made his Metropolitan Opera debut as the Gran Sacerdote in Mozart's Idomeneo with James Levine, his Covent Garden debut as Jenik in Smetana's The Bartered Bride with Sir Charles Mackerras followed by Florestan (Fidelio) with Antonio Pappano and Salzburg Festival in Die Zauberflöte with Riccardo Muti. Simon toured Japan with the Metropolitan Opera covering Plácido Domingo in the role of Siegmund (Die Walküre). Other roles include Mitch in Previn's A Streetcar Named Desire at Theater an der Wien, Rodolfo (La bohème) in New Orleans, Grand Rapids and San Francisco, Don Jose (Carmen) and Tito (La clemenza di Tito) at Wolf Trap, Chairman Mao in John Adams' Nixon in China with Minnesota Opera, Dimitri (Boris Godunov) with New Zealand Opera, Skuratov in Janáček's From the House of the Dead in New York, Canio (Pagliacci) in concert with the Auckland Philharmonia, Sam in Floyd's Susannah at the Wexford Festival, Chevalier de la Force (Dialogues of the Carmelites) at Juilliard and recorded the role of Lancelot in Chausson's Le roi Arthus with the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
At extremely short notice he made his 2009 debut in the title role of Verdi's Otello with Sir Colin Davis and the London Symphony Orchestra and in 2010 he debuted at the Bayreuth Festival in the title role of Lohengrin. In 2009 he performed he title role of Lohengrin at the Royal Opera House and Houston Grand Opera, Sergei in his Opera Australia debut in Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk and Florestan with Daniel Barenboim at the BBC Proms in Fidelio. Other performance highlights have included Parsifal at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome and at the Bayreuth Festival in 2011 always conducted by Daniele Gatti, debuts as Siegmund in Die Walküre at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, with Antonio Pappano and at the Metropolitan Opera with Donald Runnicles, toured Europe with the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra and Daniel Barenboim and made his Carnegie Hall debut as Caesar in Samuel Barber's Antony and Cleopatra.
O'Neill also appears on the 1997 New Zealand one-dollar performing arts postage stamp.
