Australian baritone Leslie John Flanagan made his professional debut with English National Opera in 1999 at the age of 23, becoming the youngest singer to debut in the company’s history. Since making his debut in David Freeman’s acclaimed production of Monteverdi’s Orfeo with John Mark Ainsley and Alice Coote, the Australian baritone has gone on to sing numerous performances in the United Kingdom, Europe, the United States and Australia. His roels for  English National Opera, include Rossini’s Figaro, Guglielmo Cosi fan tutte, Schaunard La Boheme, Morales Carmen, Barney in the world premiere of Mark Anthony Turnage’s The Silver Tassie (winner of the 2000 Olivier Awrd for acheivement in opera) alongside Gerald Finley and Sarah Conelly, Donner Das Rheingold, and Ned Keene Peter Grimes as well as leading roles in, Don Giovanni, Madame Butterfly, War and Peace, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Rigoletto, and La Bohéme (Leoncavallo). Other credits included Mitrovsky in the première of Twice Upon a Birthday for The Metropolitan Opera Guild, Guglielmo in Paris and Brussels, Dr. Malatesta ˆDon Pasquale for Clonter Opera, Escamillo Carmen for Longbourough Festival Opera, Silvio I Pagliacci for Haddo House Opera, the title role in Don Giovanni (Edinburgh Festival), Belcore L’elisir d’amore, Smirnov The Bear, and Demetrius and Starveling in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Scotland) Guglielmo Cosi fan tutte (English Touring Opera), Papageno The Magic Flute in Australia and Carmen and Dead Man Walking with the Fort Worth Opera.

A frequent performer in concert and recital he has performed at many of the world’s leading venues including the Royal Opera House, the Royal Albert Hall, the Edinburgh Festival Theater, the Sydney Opera House, Wigmore Hall, the Janacek Theater, the Queensland Performing Arts Center, the Bay View Festival and the Messiah Festival. His repertoire ranges from Baroque to 20th century. Major performances include, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and Handel’s Messiah with the Skipton Camerata (UK) and the International Messiah Festival, (KS), Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Canterbury Choral Society and the Oklahoma City Philharmonic, Carmina Burana with Sir David Willcocks at the Royal Albert Hall, London, Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen with the Birmingham Philharmonic Orchestra, Britten’s War Requiem at the Bratislava and Brno International Music Festivals, a concert performance of Prokofiev’s War and Peace at the BBC Proms, and a recital of German Lieder with pianist Wolfram Rieger at London’s Wigmore Hall. He has worked with many of opera’s and classical music’s leading conductors, accompanists and directors, including Sir Charles Mackerras, Edward Gardner, Paul Daniel OBE, David Parry OBE, Joe Illick, Graham Johnson, Christopher Glynn, Sir Jonathan Miller, Keith Warner, Deborah Warner, David Freeman and Spanish director Calixto Bieto.

His professional recording credits include the First Apprentice on Chandos’ recording of Wozzeck, Barney in ENO’S live world premiere recording of The Silver Tassie, also available on DVD from the BBC, Bach’s St. John Passion with the BBC, and on Roger Webster’s Travels with my Trumpet with English soprano Janis Kelly. He has been featured in several broadcasts on the BBC Radio in both opera and recital. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Australian Singing Competition’s Royal Conservatory of Scotland Award, the Sir Alexander Gibson Memorial Scholarship, the Texaco International Opera Prize, the Shreveport Singer of the Year Competition Delbert Chumley Award, and the Benton-Schmidt Competition; he was a Semi-Finalist in the Kathleen Ferrier Awards, Quarter-Finalist in the Montreal International Singing Competition, representing Australia and the audience prizewinner and first runner-up in the Birmingham Opera Competition.

A native of Rockhampton, Australia, Dr. Flanagan earned the bachelor’s degree in music from the Queensland Conservatorium in Brisbane, Australia, and the master’s degree in opera performance from the Royal Conservatoire of Music in Glasgow, Scotland. Upon completion of his master’s studies, he became an inaugural member of English National Opera’s prestigious Jerwood Young Singer’s Program in London.

He is the current chair of vocal studies at the University of Oklahoma his current and former students have performed at opera houses throughout the world, including the Santa Fe Opera, Washington National Opera, Houston Grand Opera and the Opéra National de Paris. Students have also been accepted to young artist and postgraduate level programs, including the Cafritz Young Artist program at Washington National Opera, the young artist studio at Opera Colorado, the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, UK, the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and the Mannes School of Music in NYC. His students have won awards at national and international competitions, including The Enrico Caruso Competition, the Magda Olivero Competition, NATS, the International Mediterranean Music Competition and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Dr. Flanagan continues his active national and international singing career while teaching and conducting masterclasses throughout the USA, UK, and in his native Australia.