During the 2024-25 season for HGO, Russell Thomas performs the title role in Tannhäuser. Previously for the company, he performed the title role of Parsifal (2024) and as Radames in Aida (2020). In the 2023-24 season, Thomas’s engagements include Álvaro in La forza del destino with Den Norske Opera, Radames in Aida at Lyric Opera of Chicago, Calàf in Turandot at LA Opera, Cavaradossi in Tosca with London’s Royal Ballet and Opera, and the title role in Don Carlos at Hamburg State Opera. Elsewhere, he performed at the Edinburgh International Festival and offered the world premiere of Joel Thompson’s Fire and Blue Sky at LA Opera. Recently, he joined the MET Orchestra’s international tour of Otello at Carnegie Hall, Philharmonie de Paris, and Festspielhaus Baden-Baden. Thomas has enjoyed a string of operatic triumphs in key Verdi roles, including Ernani at Lyric Opera of Chicago, Don Carlos at the Metropolitan Opera, Otello at Los Angeles Opera and London’s Rpyal Ballet and Opera, Manrico in Il trovatore at Bavarian State Opera, and Álvaro in La forza del destino at Deutsche Oper Berlin and Paris Opera. Engagements during the 2024-25 season include Florestan in Fidelio with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Kaiser in Die Frau ohne Schatten at the Met, and Enée in Les Troyens à Carthage in concert with the Seattle Opera. Thomas is the former Artist in Residence at LA Opera, where he curated the company’s After Hours recital series and spearheaded new training programs designed to serve outstanding singers from historically Black colleges and universities and Los Angeles public high school students from underserved communities.