“Seán Boylan, who is already the perfect young baritone.”
The Arts Desk
Irish baritone Seán Boylan graduated with Distinction from the Opera Course at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he studied with Robert Dean.
In the 2024/2025 season Seán makes his Electric Picnic debut and he reprises the role of Alcandro L’Olimpiade, in concert, with the Irish Baroque Orchestra and Irish National Opera in his Italian debut at the Teatro Tino di Lorenzo in Noto, Sicily. He returns to the Abbey Theatre (the National Theatre of Ireland) for their first production of Grania by Lady Augusta Gregory and sings Marullo Rigoletto and Frank Die Fledermaus with Irish National Opera in performances in Dublin and on an Irish tour, respectively.
Recent operatic roles include Alcandro L’Olimpiade (Irish National Opera and the Irish Baroque Orchestra conducted by Peter Whelan) in Ireland, his Royal Ballet & Opera debut in Covent Garden, London and his Swiss debut in Nouvel Opéra Fribourg; Guglielmo Così fan tutte (Garsington Opera); Tarquinius The Rape of Lucretia (Potsdam Winteroper); Moralès Carmen (Irish National Opera), title role in Don Giovanni (Nevill Holt Opera) and Pluto/Aristaeus (cover) Orpheus in the Underworld (English National Opera).
Seán was a semi-finalist in the 42nd International Hans Gabor Belvedere Competition (2024) in Jurmala, Latvia.
As a member of the Alvarez Young Artist Programme at Garsington Opera in 2019 he covered the title role of Don Giovanni, for which he was awarded the Helen Clark Award for his performance of the role at short notice. Other operatic roles include Notaio Gianni Schicchi (London Schools Symphony Orchestra at Barbican Hall); Novice’s Friend Billy Budd (St. Endellion Festival); Silvio Pagliacci, Frank Die Fledermaus, Olivier Capriccio, Dandini La Cenerentola, Assan The Consul and the title role in Ambroise Thomas’ Hamlet (Guildhall School of Music & Drama).
In recital, he has performed at Song in the City; LSO St Luke’s; Hugh Lane Gallery in Dublin, Clifden Arts Festival in Galway; St Columba’s Church in Ennis and Rosemary Street, Belfast. He has also performed in concert with the Cambridge Philharmonic, Ulster Orchestra, Galway Cathedral, Dublin’s National Concert Hall, the Drogheda Classical Music Series, and a live broadcast with Irish National Opera and mezzo-soprano Paula Murrihy in Kilkenny Castle, Ireland. He has collaborated with pianist Iain Burnside on “Drums & Guns”, a project commemorating the centenary of World War I and the Dublin Easter 1916 Rising, which was performed in Dublin, London and New York City (Lincoln Center).
In theatre, previous productions include Pygmalion for the Abbey Theatre and Hand Me Down the Moon for the Dublin Fringe Festival.
He has participated in masterclasses with Dame Ann Murray (in the Irish Culture in Britain series at Wigmore Hall); Elly Ameling, Robert Holl, Roger Vignoles and Julius Drake (all at the Franz Schubert Institut in Baden bei Wien) and with Graham Johnson as part of the Song Guild at Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Boylan studied piano, organ and voice at the Royal Irish Academy of Music (where his singing teacher was Virginia Kerr), receiving many regional and national prizes before focusing his studies on singing. He has been invited to perform for several presidents of Ireland, HM King Charles III and at festivals across Ireland, the United Kingdom and Europe. At the Guildhall School of Music and Drama he was a Guildhall School Scholar and a Gwen Catley Scholar, supported by the Amar-Frances & Foster-Jenkins Trust. He was the winner of the NI Opera Festival of Voice 2014.
“…VIVIDLY EVOKED. not only has he a fine baritone voice but also an engaging, polished platform presence.”
The Irish Examiner
For information only. Please contact Seán directly for an updated version.