Rhys Meirion was born on 24 February 1966 in
Blaenau Ffestiniog, Gwynedd, and was brought up in
Tremadog. In 1997 he left teaching to study on the opera course at the
Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, where he studied with Gerald Moore.
Career In 1999, Meirion joined English National Opera, initially joining the Jerwood Young Singers programme. He was a company principal at the opera company from 2001 to 2004, where he sang most of the leading operatic tenor roles including Rodolfo in
La Boheme and Pinkerton in
Madam Butterfly. He also sang Alfredo in
La Traviata, Nemorino in ''
L'Elisir d'Amore, Nadir in The Pearl Fishers'', Marcello in Leoncavallo's
La bohème, Duke in
Rigoletto, Tebaldo in
I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Tamino in
The Magic Flute, the title role in
Ernani, Sailor in
Tristan und Isolde, Rinuccio in
Gianni Schicchi, Italian Singer in
Der Rosenkavalier, Froh in
Das Rheingold and Zinovy in
Lady Macbeth of Mtzensk. Meirion and
Shân Cothi contributed to 'Beneath the Waves' by Kompendium, a project led by Rob Reed, keyboardist in progressive rock band
Magenta.
Personal life Meirion lives in the village of
Pwllglas near Ruthin and is married to Nia. They have three children. ==Recordings==