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 (2025)

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 (2024)

New Zealand/British Tenor Aidan Thomas Phillips is an alumnus of the Opera School at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland under the tutelage of Iain Paton, where he performed the title role in Idomeneo (Mozart), Tamino in Die Zäuberflöte (Mozart) and Filippo in L’infedeltà delusa (Haydn). He now studies with Brian Smith Walters. Since graduating earlier this year, he has performed the roles of Don José in Carmen (Bizet) and Ismaele in Nabucco (Verdi) in the Andrew Porter translation. In the 2026/27 season he will perform the role of Turridu in Cavalleria Rusticana (Mascagni) with Aria Alba, Věc Makropulos (Janáček) with Edinburgh Players Opera Group and Tristan und Isolde (Wagner) with Longborough Festival Opera.

Performances in Scenes at RCS include Pelléas (Pelléas et Melisande), Die Hexe (Hänsel und Gretel), Lysander (A Midsummer Night‘s Dream), Scaramuccio (Ariadne auf Naxos) and Chevalier de la Force (Dialogues des Carmélites).

​Oratorio credits include J.S. Bach's Johannes-Passion BWV (Evangelist/Tenor Solos), Karl Jenkins' The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace, Handel's Messiah, Brockes-Passion, Utrecht Te Deum & Jubilate, Haydn's Seven Last Words of Christ, Missa in Tempori Belli, and Rossini's Petite Messe Solenelle.

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