Paul Hopwood

Paul Hopwood started professional life teaching English; first at a comprehensive school in South London and eventually at Eton College. However, perhaps following an unguarded fit of bohemianism, he then left teaching to attend the Guildhall School of Music & Drama. He cut his operatic teeth at Glyndebourne, singing in the chorus, performing principal roles in studio productions and covering main stage roles. His work as a cover continues – he has covered roles from Berlioz’s Faust to Glass’ Gandhi (Satyagraha) – and he recently met the remarkable milestone of covering over 365 performances without ever having ‘gone on’. Pleasingly, this milestone was met on the first night of The Royal Opera’s Jephtha, in which Paul was covering the title role. A keen concert soloist, he has sung everything from Bach to Verdi, and in venues from small parish churches to the Royal Albert Hall. Highlights include St. Matthew Passion for the AAM at the Barbican, Messiah on the Isle of Skye, his debut at the Göttingen International Handel Festival as Melanzane in Jonathan Dove’s Marx in London at Scottish Opera, and directing a group of London teenagers in a performance of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. He makes his debut with The Royal Opera in the 2024/25 Season as Emperor Altoum (Turandot).