John Bolton Wood

John studied at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and the London Opera Centre. He made his UK debut at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden as Bosun in Billy Budd. He returned to Australia in 1973 to perform the role of Roderick Usher in Larry Sitsky’s Fall of the House of Usher (the first full-scale production to be staged in the Opera Theatre at the Sydney Opera House).

John’s performances include the roles of Major-General Stanley in The Pirates of Penzance, Judge Turpin in Sweeney Todd, Don Alhambra del Bolero in The Gondoliers, High Priest of Dagon in Samson et Dalila, Riccardo in I Puritani, Agamemnon in La belle Hélène, Jupiter in Orpheus in the Underworld, Fra Melitone in La forza del destino, Benoit and Alcindoro in La bohème, Somarone in Béatrice et Bénédict, Sacristan in Tosca, Gijsbert Bastiensz in Batavia, The Doctor, The Banker and The Professor in Lulu, Blansac in La scala di seta, Bruschino padre in Il signor Bruschino, Baron Zeta in The Merry Widow, Giorgio Germont in La traviata and Colonel Frank in Die Fledermaus (for Opera Australia), Doctor Bartolo in Il barbiere di Siviglia (for Welsh National Opera, Opera Queensland, Victoria State Opera and Wellington City Opera), Baron Douphol in La traviata, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly, Sacristan in Tosca and Fra Melitone in La forza del destino (for Opera Queensland), Colonel Frank in Die Fledermaus (for Opera Queensland and State Opera of South Australia), the title roles in Rigoletto and Gianni Schicchi (for NBR New Zealand Opera) and Geronimo in The Secret Marriage (at the Hong Kong Arts Festival). John also performed the title role in Opera Queensland's 2009 production of Rigoletto.

John has performed in many Gilbert and Sullivan productions including H.M.S. Pinafore (Captain Corcoran and Sir Joseph Porter), The Pirates of Penzance (Major-General Stanley), Iolanthe (Earl of Mountararat), The Gondoliers (The Duke of Plaza-Toro and Don Alhambra del Bolero), Trial by Jury (Counsel for the Plaintiff) and The Mikado (Pooh-Bah). He also toured Australia and Asia performing the role of Old Deuteronomy in Cats, which he sang for 1498 performances.

John has been the recipient of five Green Room Awards (for Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, Colonel Frank in Die Fledermaus, Major-General Stanley in The Pirates of Penzance, Lord Mountararat in Iolanthe and Giorgio Germont in La traviata). In 2009, he was the recipient of the Order of Australia for services to the performing arts and to the community.

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