"They say that being born Welsh is not to be born
with a silver spoon in your mouth, but music in your heart."

Bryn Terfel is one of the most charismatic and talented opera singers to ever grace this earth. Though he is still in his early, early thirties, he is already one of today's greatest stars. And it's certainly no mistake. His incredible stage presence, rich voice, and sparkling personality all prove that Bryn Terfel is no mere mortal.

Bryn Terfel Jones was born on November 9, 1965, in Pantglas, North Wales. ("Terfel" is actually his middle name, but since there was already another singer going by the name of Bryn Jones, Bryn chose to go as Bryn Terfel). Bryn was the second son of Hefin Jones, a farmer, and his wife, Nesta Jones. As soon as Bryn was old enough to decide, he knew he wanted to be a singer. A friend of the family's, D.G. "Selyf" Jones taught young Bryn how to sing, starting with traditional Welsh songs. Every Saturday, Bryn and his family would go into town and Bryn would participate many local recitals and festivals, later moving on to regional and national levels. After winning numerous prizes for his singing, he moved to London in 1984 and entered the Guildhall School of Music. He studied first with Arthur Reckless, and later with Rudolf Piernay, who is his current voice teacher. Bryn graduated from the Guildhall School of Music in 1989, and then married his childhood sweetheart, Lesley.

In 1990 he made his operatic début as Guglielmo in Cosí fan tutte at the Welsh National Opera, and later on in the season he sang the title role in Le Nozze di Figaro, a role he also performed in 1991 with the English National Opera. For his American début, Bryn sang Figaro with the Santa Fe Opera. In 1992, Bryn made his Covent Garden début as Masetto in Don Giovanni, with Thomas Allen in the title role.

Later in 1992, Bryn participated in the Salzburg Festival, singing Jochanaan from Strauss's Salome. This acclaimed performance was the breakthrough in his career. Since then, Bryn has appeared in many concerts and oratorio performances all over Europe and North America. Bryn was soon flooded with invitations from major opera companies all over the world, asking him to perform in London, Amsterdam, Paris, and Vienna, where he once again shone as Figaro in 1993. That same year he signed his first exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon, and returned to the Welsh National Opera to sing Ford in Falstaff.

In 1994 he sang Figaro at Covent Garden, and made his Metropolitan Opera début in the same role. He sung Mahler's Eighth Symphony for Chicago's Ravinia Festival under the baton of James Levine, and later recorded the same work for Deutsche Grammophone with Claudio Abbado and the Berlin Philharmonic. Bryn Terfel also gave recitals in London's Wigmore Hall, in Florence, at the Salzburg Festival, and made his USA recital début in Alice Tully Hall, New York. In the summer of 1994 Bryn received a little present: The birth of his first son, Tomos. Near the end of the year, Bryn developed back problems during a dress rehearsal for the Met's Don Giovanni. He had surgery in late November and was forced to cancel his performances of title role. However, he returned to the Met in late December and sung the title role of Le Nozze di Figaro.

Before the summer of 1995, Bryn made a recital tour to Vienna, Munich, and La Scala. Over the summer he sung Jochanaan in Salome at the Salzburg Summer Festival. In the fall, Bryn returned to New York once again to sing Leporello in Don Giovanni at the Met, with Thomas Hampson in the title role. Soon after, he performed Mahler's Kindertotenlieder and Sixth Symphony at Carnegie hall, joined by James Levine and the Met Orchestra.

In 1996 he sung Leporello at Salzburg, to Ferruccio Furlanetto's Don Giovanni. Bryn had to cancel singing Mandryka in Strauss's Arabella with the Royal Opera in London, but went on to sing at Carnegie Hall in October with his close friend Malcolm Martineau at the piano. Bryn also participated in James Levine's 25th Anniversary Met Gala, singing, among others, the Pearl Fishers duet with Roberto Alagna.

In 1997 Bryn bought a house outside Caernarfon, Wales, and made his La Scala début as Figaro. That same year he participated in the Metropolitan Opera Pension Fund Gala Concert in May. Later that year, he sung Wolfram in Tannhäuser at the Metropolitan Opera.

On October 11th of 1998, Bryn sang at Carnegie Hall, a recital which included works by Wolf, Faure, Brahms, Schuman, Schubert, Butterworth, Quilter, Parry, and Head. He dedicated his songs to his second son, who had been born on the day before: Morgan Terfel, weighing a strapping 9 lbs, 1 oz. Two months later, Bryn came to the Met once again, singing the title role in Le Nozze di Figaro in a much anticipated new production, with a dynamic cast featuring Cecilia Bartoli, Renée Fleming, Dwayne Croft, and Suzanne Mentzer.

In May and June of 1999, Bryn traveled to Paris, where he sung his first onstage Don Giovanni to José van Dam's Leporello.

In the fall of 1999, Bryn Terfel opened the 1999-2000 season of the Lyric Opera of Chicago with the title role in Falstaff. In the late winter of 2000 Bryn returned again to the Met, this time as the Four Villains in Les Contes d'Hoffmann. In late March 2000 he sang the title role in Die Fliegende Holländer in London, and the following summer he will sang Nick Shadow in The Rake's Progress in San Francisco.

Bryn has received numerous awards and prizes for his singing. While he was studying at the Guildhall School of Music, he received the Kathleen Ferrier Memorial Scholarship, and when he graduated in 1989, he won the School's Gold Medal for Best Singer. That same year, he participated in the Cardiff Singer of the World Competition and came in second behind Dmitri Hvorostovsky. However, Bryn did take home the lieder prize. In 1992 he won the Gramophone Young Singer of the Year award, and a year later he was presented with the Newcomer of the Year award in the first International Classical Music Awards. In 1994 he won the solo vocal Gramophone award for his album, "An die Musik." In 1995 he was awarded with the "People's Award" from Gramophone for his album "The Vagabond," and he later won the Grammy Award for Classical Solo Vocal for "Bryn Terfel: Opera Arias." Sir Georg Solti's recording of Don Giovanni with Bryn Terfel in the title role won a nomination for the 1998 "Best Opera Recording" Grammy Award, and his album "Handel: Arias," won a 1999 Grammy nomination for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album.