Liam Bonthrone studied with Nuccia Focile, Marcus van den Akker and Jonathan Papp at Royal Academy Opera. He also holds a Masters of Performance with distinction from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and a First Class Bachelor’s from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

Roles in the Bayerische Staatsoper 2022/2023 season include; Rustighello (Lucrezia Borgia), Brighella (Ariadne auf Naxos), Ein junger Seemann (Tristan und Isolde), Eurimaco/Pisandro (Il ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria), Un Lampionaio (Manon Lescaut), Edler I (Lohengrin), Pasek (Cunning Little Vixen), Player 2 (Hamlet) and Bedienter (Lear).

Liam won First Prize in the 2022 Clonter Opera Prize, was a semi-finalist in the 2022 Wigmore Hall/Bollinger Song Competition, and a finalist in the 2020 Kathleen Ferrier Awards. He recently made his role debut as Conte Almaviva (Il barbiere di Siviglia), with Nevill Holt Opera, and attended the 2022 Internationale Meistersinger Akademie, directed by Edith Wiens.

At Royal Academy Opera Liam performed Ferrando (Cosi fan tutte), Gonzalve (L’heure Espagnole), Tanzmeister and Haushofmeister (Ariadne auf Naxos) and Flute (A Midsummer Night’s Dream).

Liam is a Samling Artist, and has performed as an Alvarez Young Artist with Garsington Opera. He performed Tenor Corypheè, and covered the title role in Garsington’s 2021 production of Le Comte Ory.

He made his International debut as Bruno in Bellini’s I Puritani with the Rotterdam Operakoor, in De Doelen. In 2019, Liam performed his role debut as Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola with British Youth Opera and won the Dame Hilda Bracket Prize from Sadler’s Wells and the Basil A. Turner Opera Award.

As a concert soloist, performances include Handel Messiah and Samson, Mendelssohn Elijah, Mozart Requiem and Mass in C minor, Bach Christmas Oratorio, St John Passion, Haydn The Creation, Finzi For St. Cecilia and MacMillan All the hills and vales along. He also appeared in various roles in the ensemble for Bernstein’s Candide, with the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Marin Alsop, in the Barbican Centre.

Liam is in high demand as a recitalist; performing alongside the Prince Consort at the Wigmore Hall, and in Graham Johnson’s Song Guild at Milton Court. He was a featured soloist with BBC ‘Total Immersion’, and he frequently performs in collaboration with pianist Alasdair Hogarth for Classic FM. In February 2020, Liam performed in a Russian Song recital as part of the UK/Russia Year of Culture in the Rimsky-Korsakov Museum, St Petersburg. He was a finalist in the RAM 2021 Bicentenary Prize, at the Wigmore Hall.

Liam has participated in Masterclasses led by artists including Joyce DiDonato, Brigitte Fassbaender, Malcolm Martineau, Ian Bostridge, Ann Murray, Edith Wiens, and Roger Vignoles.

Alongside his studies, Liam appears regularly in theatres throughout the UK as part of The Two Highland Lads – a Scottish variety duo, alongside fellow Perth baritone Kenneth Maciver, and Leonard Brown and his All Star Band.