SEÁN TESTER

A graduate of the Royal Irish Academy of Music, Irish lyric tenor Seán Tester is building a growing presence on both the opera and concert stage. Upcoming engagements include Arbace in Mozart’s Idomeneo at Cadogan Hall, El Remendado in Bizet’s Carmen with IF Opera, tenor soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Worthing Symphony Orchestra, and Prince Nilsky in Prokofiev’s TheGambler at Wexford Festival Opera 2026.

The 2025/26 season marked an important stage in his development. He made his Wexford Festival Opera debut as a recipient of the Danone Young Outstanding Artist Award, joining the Wexford Factory to sing Conte di Libenskof in Rossini’s Il viaggio a Reims and to take part in the world premiere of Urban Legends by Andrew Synnott and Colm Tóibín. He also debuted with National Symphony Orchestra Ireland as El Remendado in Carmen at the National Concert Hall, Dublin, in a performance broadcast on RTÉ Lyric FM. Earlier in the season, he made his London oratorio debut as tenor soloist in Mozart’s Requiem in D minor, K.626 at the Royal Festival Hall with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, marking an important step onto the international concert platform.

Alongside performance, Seán remains closely connected to the Royal Irish Academy of Music. Recognised for his promise, he is the inaugural RIAM Emerging Artist Fellow, affirming his place among the Academy’s most exciting alumni. As part of RTÉ Lyric FM’s New Generation Voices, he recorded two arias with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra. He also serves as Series Ambassador for Drogheda Classical Music Series and is an Artist in Association with Droichead Arts Centre for 2026, maintaining strong ties to his hometown’s cultural life.

Recent seasons have seen him build a broad repertoire across Ireland and abroad. In 2025 he returned to the Blackwater Valley Opera Festival as Snout in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, while also appearing in recital. With Irish National Opera, he has performed in Guillaume Tell, La Bohème, La Traviata, Faust, Der fliegende Holländer and Rigoletto, covering Il Duca di Mantova. His international operatic role debut came in Switzerland as Rodolphe in Rossini’s Guillaume Tell in a co-production with NOF (Nouvel Opéra Fribourg/Neue Oper Freiburg). Other appearances include roles in Argento’s Postcard from Morocco and Purcell’s The Fairy Queen at the Korkyra Baroque Festival in Croatia and the Sligo Baroque Festival in Ireland. He has also brought opera to wider audiences through performances at Electric Picnic, Limerick Opera Festival, and community-based initiatives.

As a concert and oratorio soloist, his repertoire includes Messiah, Johannes-Passion, Carmina Burana, and The Seven Last Words of Christ. He has appeared with the Dublin Bach Singers, Drogheda Classical Music Series, and Dublin Song Series, and made his international recital debut at the Franz Liszt Academy, Budapest with pianist Ella Nagy. He has also appeared at the Dublin International Chamber Music Festival singing Brahm’s Liebeslieder Walzer and RIAM ChamberFest 2025 performing Chausson’s Poème de l’amour et de la mer.

Seán’s artistic journey began in Drogheda, where he trained at the Drogheda School of Performing Arts (The Little Duke Theatre) and sang with St. Peter’s Male Voice Choir. He later completed both the Recital Artist Diploma and a Master’s in Music Performance at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, graduating with distinction as a BVOF|RIAM John Pollard Bursary recipient. In May 2024, he performed at the State Dinner at Áras an Uachtaráin hosted by President Michael D. Higgins in honour of the President of Italy.