Liam JamesKarai

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  • Bass-Baritone

About Liam James

Bass-Baritone Liam James Karai’s voice is celebrated for its elegance, striking flexibility and dark timbre. Hong-Kong born, and of Scottish, Irish and Indian heritage, Karai continues to make successful and celebrated debuts across top international opera houses, captivating audiences with his strong voice and compelling stage presence.

Karai’s 26/27 season sees him make his US debut with LA Opera as Escamillo in their new production of Carmen. He also returns to the Polish National Opera as Angelotti in Tosca, as well as to Teatro Municipal De Santiago for an unannounced role debut, and makes his house and role debut with English National Opera as Jan Nyman in Breaking the Waves. Further engagements that season include Elijah in Elijah with the Handel & Haydn Society at Boston Symphony Hall, his house and role debut at Bayerische Staatsoper as Donner in Das Rheingold, followed by his house debut at Royal Ballet and Opera, London as Donner in Das Rheingold.

Previous seasons have seen Karai make exciting house debuts at Teatro di San Carlo (Marcello in La bohème), Teatro Municipal de Santiago (Jochanaan in Salome), Opera North (Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro), Nederlandse Reisopera (Abram in the award-winning world premiere of Hagar), Glyndebourne Festival (Truffaldino in Ariadne auf Naxos), Polish National Opera (Escamillo in Carmen & Angelotti in Tosca), Oper Frankfurt (Escamillo in Carmen), Tiroler Festspiele Erl (Schaunard in La bohème) & Semperoper Dresden (Sciarrone in Tosca). He has also appeared in concert with the WDR Orchestra and London Symphony Orchestra and was a finalist and/or prize winner in several international competitions, including Operalia, the Tenor Viñas Competition, the Riccardo Zandonai Competition, the Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition & the Antonina Campi Vocal Competition.

Karai was a member of the International Opera Studio at Staatsoper Hamburg for the 22/23 & 23/24 seasons and completed both a Master of Music and a Postgraduate Diploma on full scholarship at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, studying under Quentin Hayes. During his time there, he received the Sir John Tomlinson and Andrew Lloyd Webber Scholarships, won the 2021 Frederic Cox Award, the Robin Kay Memorial Prize, the RNCM Silver Medal and the Joaninha Trust Award.

Liam James is based in Hamburg

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Contact

Kate Robson

Kate Robson

Associate Artist Manager

Representation

Worldwide general management with Askonas Holt

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Season Highlights

Oct 2026 - Nov 2026
Los Angeles, USA
Carmen (Escamillo) Los Angeles Opera Domingo Hindoyan (Conductor)
Jan 2027
Warsaw, Poland
Tosca (Angelotti) Teatr Wielki Opera Narodowa Yoel Gamzou (Conductor)
Feb 2027
London, UK
Breaking the Waves (Jan Nyman) English National Opera Joana Carneiro (Conductor)
May 2027
Boston, USA
Elijah Handel & Haydn Society Jonathan Cohen (Conductor)
Jul 2027
Munich, Germany
Das Rheingold (Donner) Bayerische Staatsoper Vladimir Jurowski (Conductor)
Sep 2027 - Oct 2027
London, UK
Das Rheingold (Donner) Royal Ballet and Opera Jakub Hrůša (Conductor) Barrie Kosky (Director)

Video

Photos

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Selected Repertoire

Bizet

Escamillo (Carmen)

Britten

Hobson (Peter Grimes)

Dove

Minskman (Flight)

Glass

Parsi Rustomji (Satyagraha)

Janáček

Pastor & Badger (The Cunning Little Vixen)   •   Forester (The Cunning Little Vixen)

Mozart

Leporello (Don Giovanni)   •   Don Giovanni (Don Giovanni)   •   Figaro (Le Nozze di Figaro)   •   Il Conte (Le Nozze di Figaro)   •   Guglielmo (Così fan tutte)

Puccini:

Angelotti & Sciarrone (Tosca)   •   Schaunard (La bohème)   •   Marcello (La bohème)

Rossini

Alidoro (Cenerentola)   •   Basilio (il barbiere di siviglia)   •   Martino (L’occasione fa il ladro)

Shostakovich

Verwalter & Wächter (Lady Macbeth von Mzensk)

Strauss

Jochanaan & 1st Nazarene (Salome)   •   Der Pfleger des Orest (Elektra)   •   Truffaldino, Ein Lakai, Der Haushofmeister (Ariadne auf Naxos)

Tchaikovsky

Zaretski (Eugene Onegin)

Thomas

Horatio (Hamlet)

Verdi

Il Conte di Ceprano & Un Usciere di Court (Rigoletto)

News

Press

  • La Bohème

    Teatro di San Carlo, Naples
    Apr 2026 - Apr 2026

    • Liam James Karai (9 aprile) sfoggia mezzi vocali rigogliosi e bel timbro brunito [...] [translated] Liam James Karai (April 9) displays lush vocal means and a beautiful burnished timbre [...]

    • Protagonisti della serata del 9 aprile sono stati Elsa Dreisig (Mimì), René Barbera (Rodolfo), Maria Knihnytska (Musetta) e Liam James Karai (Marcello), tutti accolti da lunghi applausi e una sala in piedi al termine della recita. [...] Di grande rilievo anche il Marcello di Liam James Karai, al debutto nel ruolo, che ha convinto per presenza scenica e solidità interpretativa, contribuendo in modo decisivo al successo della serata. [translated] The stars of the evening of April 9 were Elsa Dreisig (Mimì), René Barbera (Rodolfo), Maria Knihnytska (Musetta) and Liam James Karai (Marcello), all greeted with long applause and a standing ovation at the end of the performance [...] Also of great importance was Liam James Karai's Marcello, making his debut in the role, which convinced with its stage presence and solid interpretation, contributing decisively to the success of the evening.

    • Notevole la prova di Maria Knihnytska (Musetta), sia da un punto di vista recitativo che canoro e quella di Liam James Karai (Marcello), che ha dato ottima prova di sé. [translated] Maria Knihnytska (Musetta) also gave a remarkable performance, both in acting and singing, as did Liam James Karai (Marcello), who gave an excellent performance.

  • Le nozze di Figaro (Figaro)

    Opera North, UK
    Jan 2026 - Mar 2026

    • As for Figaro, he’s also more an employee than a servant, and treats the Count with affable and somewhat bullying friendliness –helped by Liam James Karai’s commanding vocal presence, and his equally impressive height. [...] Reyes is, alongside Karai, the most distinguished person vocally on stage.

    • Liam James Karai’s Figaro had something I can only describe as perfect “Figaro energy”: cheeky, youthful, and winkingly clever. I consider myself something of a baritone connoisseur and his bass-baritone voice was absolutely gorgeous. And what is a good love story without heaps of romantic chemistry? The spark between him and Hera Hyesang Park’s Susanna felt so effortless that it’s difficult to imagine they aren’t a real-life couple.

    • Relationships are always the central focus in this director’s view of character, and in Hera Hyesang Park’s feisty, beautifully phrased Susanna and Liam James Karai’s lovable, equally well sung Figaro we have a completely believable pair, the one sharp as a tack and the other adorably slow on the uptake.

    • Liam James Karai is Figaro, a bass-baritone with steely power in his voice [...]

    • Both Figaro (bass-baritone Liam James Karai) and Susanna (soprano Hera Hyesang Park) are seemingly effortless singers and consummate actors with a lightness and precocious charm that sticks in the memory.

    • Liam James Karai is a super Figaro, good-looking, smart, but not quite as clever as he thinks he is.

    • Figaro — cheerful, solidly voiced Liam James Karai [...]

    • Liam James Karai (Figaro) and Hera Hyesang Park (Susanna) are both making their debut with Opera North and inhabit their roles with aplomb and confidence and a real stage chemistry.

    • [...] the far more bonhomous Figaro is given dimensionality and bass-baritonal richness by Liam James Karai.

    • Liam James Karai makes his Opera North debut as a wily and handsome Figaro whose rich bass has the necessary glint of steel.

  • Salome (Jochanaan)

    Teatro Muncipal de Santiago, Chile
    Nov 2025 - Nov 2025

    • En lo vocal, el primer elenco (25 de noviembre) fue dominado por el barítono Liam James Karai, un Jokanaan de voz imponente y fraseo enfático, capaz de proyectar su severa e implacable autoridad. [translated] Vocally, the first cast (November 25) was dominated by baritone Liam James Karai , a Jokanaan with an imposing voice and emphatic phrasing, capable of projecting his severe and implacable authority.

  • La Bohème

    Erl Tiroler Festspiele
    Dec 2024 - Jan 2025

    • Of Rodolfo's flatmates, the one who usually has the most thankless task is the one who will be remembered this time. Liam James Karai finally relieves Schaunard of the role of mere prompter and draws attention to himself with his agile baritone.

      • BR-KLASSIK
      • 01 January 2025

    • Liam James Karai impresses as Schaunard with his distinctive bass-baritone and comedic acting.

      • Online Musik Magazin
      • 02 January 2025

    • The deep voices of Liam James Karai (Schaunard)... were profound and impressive, with a distinctive profile.

      • Online Merker
      • 05 January 2025

  • Anniversary gala: 30 years of the International Opera Studio

    Staatsoper Hamburg
    Oct 2024

    • Finally, Escamillo's aria “Votre toast peux vous le rendre” by Liam James Karai followed, elegantly and emotionally expressed with the necessary eloquence.

  • Carmen (Escamillo)

    Frankfurt Opera, Frankfurt
    Mar 2024

    • Liam James Karai as Escamillo demonstrates how musical design possibilities arise from greater role experience. He has already been able to try out his role at the Mainz State Theater and boasts a robust bass-baritone that can also glide to brilliant heights with the greatest of ease.

      • Der Opernfreund

    • Liam James Karai sings the Toreador with Vocal and Theatrical Authority, as he did at the Staatstheater Mainz.

      • Kulturfreak

  • Carmen (Escamillo)

    Frankfurt Staatstheater
    Oct 2023

    • Two extremely talented young singers cause surprises. Liam James Karai, still in the opera studio in the city of Hamburg, gives his Escamillo a self-confidence and bass-baritone virility that does not fail to have an effect on the trophy hunter Carmen.

    • But the most interesting character is Escamillo, who in his first appearance is portrayed as a mysterious savior rather than as a local hero in a dirty T-shirt. Liam James Karai's naive, self-confident demeanor is just as much like the noble sound of his youthful bass-baritone.

      • Orpheus Magazine

    • The crowd chatters and drinks, Escamillo, his shirt already stained with blood, is an approachable man with Liam James Karai (with a very well-founded bass-baritone).

    • Liam James Karai ein baritonal stattlicher Torero Escamillo [Liam James Karai a baritonal stately Torero Escamillo]

  • Mozart Opera Gala -Afterwork Concert

    Staatsoper Hamburg
    Oct 2022

    • From head to toe, Karai was the self-assured - almost self-important - nobleman that Giovanni always appears to be on the outside. This elegance was also reflected in his rich bass-baritone, not only in this duet, but also in the aria of Figaro from Mozart's Le Nozze de Figaro. Here Karai made his anger over his Susanna's possible infidelity and his simultaneous insecurity clearly audible and visible

      • Opern Gestalten

  • Song Recital – Lieder der heimat – Afterwork Concert

    Staatsoper Hamburg
    May 2023

    • The young bass-baritone has a beautiful voice with which he creates small stories, especially from Jonathan Dove's songs, that come to life through gestures and facial expressions, thus captivating and allowing everyone to feel their emotions. He also beautifully and confidently performed the songs about the sea and sailors written by John Ireland and Charles V. Standford. His timbre is soft, dark and multicolored. He delivered his German introductions with modest charm and with Robert Schumann's perfectly understandable The Two Grenadiers he effortlessly managed to clearly express the desperation and bitter devotion of soldiers at the time of the Napoleon Wars. Thank you very much and something that is anything but arrogant: keep it up!

      • Opern Gestalten