“…I have never seen such a convincingly played pants role as Xenia Puskarz Thomas. All with no distortion of her voice… put wholly at the service of her role. She is of the new generation of actor/singers who are changing the way we think of opera….”
Nicholas Routley, The Australian Stage
About
Acclaimed by The New York Times as one of their “Top Five Breakout Artists of the Festival” for her performances under Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla as Aglaja in Krzysztof Warlikowski’s production of Weinberg’s Der Idiot at the 2024 Salzburger Festspiele, Australian mezzo-soprano Xenia Puskarz Thomas’ career was launched on one of the world’s most prestigious stages.
In the 2025/2026 season, Xenia Puskarz Thomas makes a series of high profile debuts including as The Women in George Benjamin’s Picture a Day Like This at Teatro San Carlo under Corinne Niemeyer, and as La messaggera in a new staging by William Kentridge of Monteverdi’s L’orfeo for Glyndebourne Festival conducted by Jonathan Cohen. She will also perform the title role in Luigi Rossi’s Orfeo, as part of Raphäel Pichon and Pygmalion’s residency at Adelaide Festival. On the concert stage she sings Michael Haydn’s Requiem with Münchner Philharmoniker under Riccardo Minasi, J.S. Bach’s Mass in B minor with Berliner Philharmoniker conducted by Raphaël Pichon, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Gewandhaus Orchester under Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla.
“…The riveting performance of Xenia Puskarz Thomas, an Australian mezzo with a vibrant, big-scaled voice, won me over completely. It is possible that Thomas could have made as vivid an impression in trousers, but by presenting as a woman, she was able to perform with the fervor of a prima donna…”