Since winning the inaugural Seattle Opera International Wagner competition in 2006, James Rutherford has become renowned for his interpretations of German romantic opera.
With “his rich and booming voice and nuanced acting” (Bachtrack), his celebrated Wagner roles have taken him to the world’s leading operatic stages. He has performed Hans Sachs (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg) for houses including the Bayreuth Festival, Wiener Staatsoper, Hamburgische Staatsoper, Oper Köln, San Francisco Opera, Budapest Wagner Festival and Glyndebourne Festival; Wolfram (Tannhäuser) for San Francisco Opera and Deutsche Oper Berlin; the title role in Der Fliegende Holländer for the Budapest Wagner Festival, Oper Frankfurt and Oper Stuttgart as well as Kurwenal (Tristan und Isolde) for Washington National Opera. James continues to sing his core repertoire in the 23/24 season, where his roles include Der Holländer (Der Fliegender Holländer) and Faninal (Der Rosenkavalier) for Deutsche Oper am Rhein; Wotan (Das Rheingold) in his debut with Calgary Opera, and Wotan (Die Walküre) with the Hangzhou Philharmonic. He made his debut at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in the 2014/15 season with Arabella.