Thomas Guthrie is an innovative and award-winning British director and musician working in theatre, film and music.
A former Jette Parker Young Artist Stage Director at the Royal Opera House in London, recent highlights include an acclaimed opening of the Edinburgh Festival in 2025, Aida at the Liceu in Barcelona, Semele in Paris, Rome, and London, and work in New York and Beijing (see reviews page). His highly praised productions of Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro and Die Zauberflöte at Longborough Festival Opera led to an invitation to direct Wagner’s Der Fliegende Holländer there (‘one of the best productions at this venue I have seen’, Rupert Christiansen, Telegraph). His production of Gagliano’s rare 1608 opera La Dafne – one of three from consecutive years created in a week with young singers at the Brighton Early Music Festival – was nominated for an RPS Award. Meanwhile his recent staging of Leonardo Dreams of his Flying Machine at the Royal Albert Hall for the National Youth Choir of Great Britain was called ‘one of the most staggering things I’ve ever seen’ (audience reaction on Twitter).
At the Royal Opera, his revival of David McVicar’s production of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte there won What’s On Stage Best Revival; meanwhile his revival of the same director’s Andrea Chenier, working with SIr Tony Pappano in his last appearance as Music Director, with Jonas Kaufmann and Sondra Radvanosky leading the cast in 2024, was highly praised (5*s Financial Times).
In line with his deep conviction that all storytelling must involve some sense of place and belonging to be truly effective, Tom also works with non-professionals of all ages and backgrounds in theatre and music. Some of his most thrilling projects have been in this field, including work with his own charity Music and Theatre for All (MTFA), Streetwise Opera, the Prison Choir Project, the National Youth Choir of Great Britain, and the Royal Opera House, through whom he has inspired hundreds to connect with their inner Caruso and raise the roof. His production of Ludd and Isis, a new opera commissioned to launch the ROH’s new Production Park in Thurrock, involving a cast of hundreds, including professionals and amateurs of all ages, was acclaimed as ‘one of the Royal Opera House’s grandest achievements’ (Opera).
He founded MTFA in 2014 with a passion to connect social and local issues with storytelling of the highest quality. He launched the Lewisham Creative Chorus in 2021, and together they have written, produced and performed a number of shows and songs. These include the acclaimed Our Street, Stories We Tell Ourselves, Dancing in the Mirror, and a number of catchy seasonal tunes (including this from December 2024), meeting weekly at the beautiful 1920s purpose-built community pub, The Fellowship Inn in Bellingham.
As a singer he has performed at venues worldwide with conductors such as Sir John Eliot Gardiner and Sir Richard Hickox. His production of Winterreise with puppet has been running for almost 20 years (‘Brilliant. Stunning. Not only is the voice production, vocal tone and phrasing the most sensitive and expressive I have heard since Fischer-Dieskau’s earlier recordings, but the German pronunciation is the best I have heard from a non-native’ (Youtube comment). ’It was absolutely a life-changing experience seeing Thomas Guthrie’s production of Winterreise in Kent.’ (Youtube comment). ‘Audaciously expressive, chilling and thrilling’ (Sunday Times), ’An extraordinary experience’ (Opera Now); a brand new arrangement for string quintet, piano and guitar premiered at the Romsey Chamber Music Festival in 2026.
Film work includes Where Have All The Flowers Gone, We’ll Meet Again, Serenade to Music, St John Passion, Ruggiero, and Polyphony, a film about sound and connection following the Tallis Scholars and the Lewisham Creative Chorus, due for release late 2026.
In addition to being the founder and artistic director of the charity Music and Theatre for All, he is a former Guest Artistic Advisor to the York Early Music Festival, and a Belknap Fellow at Princeton University, New Jersey.
He is proud to sing and play with Bjarte Eike’s Alehouse Boys. He appears on The Alehouse Sessions (also on BBC4 here), The Playhouse Sessions, and his own arrangement of Schubert’s Die Schöne Müllerin. Other recordings include the Gramophone Award winning Biber recording with Monica Huggett and Sonnerie, as well as appearing as a soloist on two of The Monteverdi Choir’s Bach Cantata Pilgrimage recordings.
“Thomas Guthrie is hot news. His imagination knows no bounds”
OPERA NOW
“Brilliant”
OPERA
Click here to see images, film and reviews of his recent work.
Click here to see a selection of Tom’s videos and arrangements, including Where Have All the Flowers Gone, which has raised over £10,000 for Help Musicians and been archived in the BFI’s Lockdown Collection.
Click here for the ROH’s video introduction to Tom’s award winning revival of Magic Flute (now available on DVD).
Click here for more on his acclaimed production of Winterreise.
Click here for an introduction to Tom’s arrangement and production of Die schöne Müllerin.
Click here for the website of Music and Theatre For All.
See here for a trailer for one of his most recent shows, at the London Handel Festival (2025).