Winning critical acclaim for “vocal heft, clarion sound and stamina” (New York Times) and for performances described as “close to perfection – powerful, subtle, intelligent, every word crystal clear” (Financial Times), American Heldentenor Clay Hilley continues to garner success in an ever-growing list of opera’s most monumental heroic roles. After stepping into the premiere of Bayreuth’s new Götterdämmerung at one day’s notice in 2022, Hilley returned to the Bayreuth Festival last summer as Tristan, one of several Wagnerian roles now featuring prominently in his operatic diary. The 2023-24 season included his debut as the title role of Tannhäuser at the Edinburgh International Festival in a concert performance with Sir Donald Runnicles and at the Deutsche Oper Berlin later with fully-staged performances in Berlin led by Pietari Inkinen; a house debut at the Bayerische Staatsoper in the title role of Parsifal, conducted by Adam Fischer; and features a return to the Deutsche Oper Berlin as Siegfried in a revival of Stefan Herheim’s production of Der Ring des Nibelungen. Additionally, the tenor joined the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and Music Director Karina Canellakis for a concert performance of Siegfried at Amsterdam’s venerable Concertgebouw. Beyond Wagner, Clay Hilley also appeared this season as Beethoven’s Florestan (Fidelio) for the Canadian Opera Company, with conductor Johannes Debus, Strauss’s Bacchus (Ariadne auf Naxos) at the Hong Kong Arts Festival with the orchestra of the Bayerische Staatsoper under Patrick Lange, and made his Staatsoper Hamburg debut as Laca in Janáček’s Jenůfa, in performances conducted by Tomáš Netopil.