In the 2020/21 season Derek Welton makes his house debut at the Vienna State Opera as Orest (Welser-Möst), appears as Wotan in a new Das Rheingold at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, directed by Stefan Herheim and conducted by Donald Runnicles, and returns to the stage of the Bavarian State Opera as Klingsor (Welser-Möst). In concert, Welton joins Sir Mark Elder and the Sinfonieorchester Basel as Wanderer/Siegfried, a role he performs for the first time. In addition to Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Trondheim Symphony Orchestra under Ha-Na Chang, he makes his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic in Stravinsky’s Œdipus Rex, conducted by Kirill Petrenko.
As a member of the Ensemble of the Deutsche Oper Berlin until the close of the 2019/20 season, Derek Welton amassed a wide repertory of roles including Altair (Die ägyptische Helena), Forester (The Cunning Little Vixen), Saint-Bris (Les Huguenots), Mr Flint (Billy Budd) and Peter (Hänsel und Gretel) and starred in new productions of The Makropulos Case under Donald Runnicles, Meyerbeer’s Le prophète under Enrique Mazzola and Korngold’s Das Wunder der Heliane under Marc Albrecht, released on DVD by Naxos and winner of the Opera of the 20th/21st Century category at the Opus Klassik 2020 awards.
An accomplished concert performer, Derek has recently appeared in Bluebeard’s Castle at the George Enescu Festival with the Polish National Radio Orchestra under Christian Mandeal, The Epic of Gilgamesh with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra under Manfred Honeck, A Child of Our Time with the Gewandhausorchester under Stefan Asbury and Glagolitic Mass with the National Orchestra of Spain under Xian Zhang. He has performed St Matthew Passion with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra under Pablo Heras-Casado, St John Passion with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment at the Theater an der Wien under Stephen Layton and Messiah with the Hallé under Christian Curnyn. A new recording of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Malmö Symphony Orchestra under Robert Treviño is released on the Ondine label.
Born in Australia, Derek Welton is a graduate of both the University of Melbourne and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.