Jones has appeared as a principal guest artist several times for
Scottish Opera and
Northern Ireland Opera, as well as for the
Royal Opera,
The Icelandic Opera,
Welsh National Opera,
Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Teatro Comunale Bolzano,
Teatro Rossini, at the
Wexford Festival,
Buxton Festival, for
Opera Holland Park,
Longborough Festival Opera, Opera East,
Bampton Classical Opera, Diva Opera, and Lyric Opera Dublin.
Wagnerian roles Jones was joint winner of the 2013 Wagner Society Singing Competition, and has since performed several of
Richard Wagner's
heldenbariton roles. He appeared for Longborough Festival Opera as
Wotan in
Die Walküre (2021) and
Siegfried (2022), and is due to reprise the role in their full cycle of
Der Ring des Nibelungen in 2024, in a production directed by Amy Lane and conducted by
Anthony Negus.
Contemporary music Jones has given world premiere performances of works by the composers
Stephen McNeff (the oratorio
Cities of Dreams in 2007; the role of
Elisha in the opera
The Burning Boy in 2017; and the role of Y Bon Pebr in the opera
2117 / Hedd Wyn in 2022);
Stuart MacRae (his
Prometheus Symphony at the 2019 Lammermuir Festival);
Conor Mitchell (the title role in
The Musician, Belfast 2021),
John Metcalf (the roles of Dancing Williams, Sinbad Sailors, Willy Nilly, Mr Pugh, Mr Pritchard and Mr Floyd in
Under Milk Wood: An Opera, Metcalf's adaptation of
Dylan Thomas' play for voices); Peter Wiegold (his short opera based on the movie
Brief Encounter in 2004); Jonathan Owen Clark (his opera
Hidden States in
Newcastle in 2004); Richard Elfyn Jones (his oratorio ''In David's Land'' at
St David's Cathedral in 2006, and his set of songs
Four Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins in 2008);
Jonathan Dove (his opera for television,
Man on the Moon, in 2006);
Keith Burstein (playing the role of Mohammed in the opera
Manifest Destiny at the
2005 Edinburgh Festival Fringe); David Power (his set
Forever and Other Songs);
Emily Hall (four settings of words by Toby Litt at the 2010 Grimsby St Hugh's Festival); Sadie Harrison (
Heartoutbursts); and Timothy Raymond (
From Dark to Dark). For Northern Ireland Opera in 2012 he created the roles of the Policeman in Ed Bennett's ''Jackie's Taxi'', the Father in Christopher Norby's
The Girl Who Knew She Could Fly and the Father in Brian Irvine's
May Contain Flash Photography. His work in contemporary opera has also included the role of Blazes in
Peter Maxwell Davies'
The Lighthouse at the
Cantiere Internazionale d'Arte di
Montepulciano, Sam in
Leonard Bernstein's
Trouble in Tahiti for Second Movement,
Andy Warhol in the Italian premiere of
Michael Daugherty's
Jackie O at the Teatro Rossini in Lugo and the
Teatro Comunale di Bologna, The Priest in the Scottish premiere of
The Trial by
Philip Glass and Pacheco in the world premiere of the revised version of
Ines de Castro by
James MacMillan, both for Scottish Opera, and The Colonel in the Icelandic premiere of
Daniel Bjarnason's
Brothers for The Icelandic Opera.
Collaboration with Oliver Mears Jones works regularly with the director
Oliver Mears. Their collaborations include Scarpia (
Tosca), Verdi's
Macbeth, Father (
Hansel and Gretel) and Noye (''
Noye's Fludde) for Northern Ireland Opera; Scarpia (Tosca
) and Speaker (The Magic Flute) for Nevill Holt Opera; and Sam (Trouble in Tahiti) and Monsieur Juste (The Three Wishes'') for
Second Movement.
Collaboration with Llŷr Williams As a member of
Yehudi Menuhin's
Live Music Now! scheme he gave over 200 concerts, mainly in partnership with the pianist
Llŷr Williams, with whom he continues to collaborate; their debut album of classical songs, titled
Enaid – Songs of the Soul, was released in November 2007 by
Sain. In November 2008 they premiered a set of songs,
Four Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins, written specifically for them by the composer Richard Elfyn Jones, in a recital at Cardiff University, and in August 2011 they appeared at an evening recital at the
Machynlleth Festival, giving their first performance of
Schubert's
Winterreise. ==Recordings==