Tenor Aidan Thomas Phillips is an alumnus of the Alexander Gibson Opera School at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, studying under Iain Paton. Aidan was a student at the New Zealand Opera School (2020-2022), and studied both his undergraduate and postgraduate degrees at the University of Waikato Conservatorium of Music where he was the recipient of a Sir Edmund Hillary Scholarship, and graduated in 2023 with BMus (Hons) and MMus (Hons) in Classical Vocal Performance. 

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"The voice I heard was rich and powerful over the full range, with phenomenal breath control and flawless Italian diction. …His three big arias, ‘Vedrommi intorno’ (when he is washed ashore and getting his bearings), ‘Fuor del mar’ (comparing his emotional state with the stormy sea), and ‘Torna la pace’ (when he abdicates and Neptune is finally placated), were all excellent.”

- Donal Hurley, Edinburgh Music Review. Idomene0, RCS, John Butt

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”A more dramatically voiced prince than we usually hear” - Opera Scotland. Die Zauberflöte, RCS, Matthew Kofi Waldren

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”Tenor Aidan Thomas Phillips (New Zealand/ Scotland) was vocally and dramatically convincing as the tragic Don José, easy prey to the seductress Carmen...Phillips exploited the verismo possibilities in Bizet’s writing with a strong tessitura across the range, while sustaining a compelling characterisation...The quality of French diction of both principals was excellent... The unfolding tragedy of José’s abandonment of a life in which he could have found fulfilment for a free but unprincipled one for which he is totally unsuited and which drives him to the brink of insanity was played out with heightened emotional impact: opera how it’s meant to be.

- Donal Hurley, Edinburgh Music Review. Carmen, Clyde Opera Group, Razvan Luculescu

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