“Characterised by a very strong acting presence, the singer succeeded in creating a portrait (Parsifal) of immense humanistic sympathy. Vocally, Jonathan Stoughton also drew on a wealth of resources, with a bright, youthful tenor and seemed to feel visibly at home in the part. Soft cantilenas, excellent phrasing, fresh colours, fine dark tones in the middle register, a wonderful timbre with a beautiful sound as well as a flowing legato with the best accent-free articulation were his brilliant attributes and thus he became a much-celebrated crowd-puller." (Der neue Merker)

So enthused the press after his debut as Parsifal in April 2022 at the Nationaltheater Mannheim. Following his debuts as Bacchus ('Ariadne auf Naxos'), Prince in Rusalka and Siegfried ('Siegfried'), which were praised as "ardent, fresh toned and promisingly tireless" [The Guardian], he has established himself as one of Britain's most exciting heroic tenors.

In 2021, Jonathan Stoughton joined the ensemble of the Nationaltheater Mannheim where he sings the major roles of the Deutsches fach. In the 2021/22 season he appeared in new productions of Der Fliegende Holländer (Erik), Der Freischütz (Max), Die Walküre (Siegmund) and Götterdämmerung (Siegfried). He also sang Parsifal in the 65th anniversary year of Hans Schüler’s legendary production.

In the 2022/23 season engagements included Siegmund Die Walküre and Siegfried Götterdämmerung in the Daegu international opera festival, as well as Siegmund and Siegfried in performances of Der Ring an einem Abend for Nationaltheater Mannheim. He also appeared as Florestan in a new production of Fidelio for Staatstheater Augsburg and Parsifal in the highly acclaimed Kinderoper at the Bayreuth Festspiele.

In the current season, engagements include Premieres of Siegfried (Siegfried) for Bühnen Bern and Boris Gudonov (Dmitri) for Nationaltheater Mannheim in addition to further performances of Fidelio for Staatstheater Augsburg, Ariadne auf Naxos (Bacchus) for Nationaltheater Mannheim and Erik in the Premiere of Der Fliegende Holländer for Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar.

Future engagements include Mahler 8 for the Prague Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven 9 for the Musikalische Akademie Mannheim, Parsifal (Parsifal) and Der Ring an einem Abend (Siegmund and Siegfried) for Nationaltheater Mannheim and a house début as Erik Der Fliegende Holländer for New National Theatre, Tokyo.

Jonathan Stoughton made his professional début for Glyndebourne in the rôle of Steva Jenufa. Other operatic engagements include Siegfried (Götterdämmerung) Der Ring an einem Abend for Oper Leipzig, Einsiedel Simplicius Simplicissimus and Der Kaiser Die Frau ohne Schatten for Nationaltheater Mannheim, Max Jonny spielt auf for the State Opera, Prague, Turiddu Cavalleria rusticana for Opera North, Vakula Christmas Eve for Chelsea Opera Group, Bacchus Ariadne auf Naxos for Longborough Festival Opera, Tristan Tristan und Isolde for Saffron Opera Group and the cover of Siegfried Siegfried and Siegfried Götterdämmerung at The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

Jonathan Stoughton trained at the Royal College of Music and the National Opera Studio. His studies were further supported by the Wagner Society and by the Mastersingers. Jonathan was runner-up in the 2013 Wagner Society Singing Competition and was the winner of the Carole Rees Award for Advanced Musical Studies in Wagnerian Repertoire in 2017.