Collin Shay is a countertenor and multi-instrumentalist based in London.
Shay recently appeared in Ruination at the Linbury Theatre, London, in a collaboration between the Royal Ballet and Lost Dog. In 2025 they will perform in The Faggots and their Friends Between Ruinations at the Park Avenue Armoury, New York and cover in Ruination at the Théâtre de la Ville, Paris. Upcoming performances will take them to the Stour Festival, Turner Sims Artistic Temperaments Festival, and RBO’s Family Pride with their devised show, Paint Me, Mother!
In 2024, they won third prize at the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, Western Region. They performed in The Faggots and their Friends Between Revolutions at the London Southbank Centre, Queen Elizabeth Hall.
In the summer of 2024, they returned to The Faggots and their Friends at the Holland Festival Amsterdam Concertgebouw and the Ruhr Triennale, won second prize in the Concours International de Musique Ancienne du Val de Loire, with the group Apollo’s Cabinet. In autumn they covered the role of Oberon at Opera North, Leeds.
Their 2023 operatic season will brought them to the Manchester International Festival, Festival Aix-en-Provence, and the Bregenzer Festspiele. They also covered a principal role at Opera North in The Masque of Might, performed recitals in association with the Royal Opera House, and competed as a finalist in the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, New England Region.
In 2018 Shay made a critically acclaimed professional debut with The Royal Opera, London, starring as Yoel in the premiere performances of Na’ama Zisser’s Mamzer | Bastard. Recent engagements include covering SerafinoThe Intelligence Park for Music Theatre Wales in association with the Royal Opera, London, Pete in Jules Maxwell’s The Lost Thing for the Royal Opera, London, in the Linbury Theatre and Schnittke’s Faust Cantata with the London Schools Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sian Edwards at London’s Barbican Concert Hall.
Recent recording appearances include works by Cheryl Frances Hoad with Alisdair Hogarth for Champs Hill Records, as well as works of Tunder and Buxtehude with Musica Poetica for the Veterum Musica label.
Shay is a graduate of The Guildhall School of Music and Drama Opera Course, where their roles included Oberon in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Cupid in John Blow’s Venus and Adonis, the Sorceress in Dido and Aeneas, and the Tour Guide in the world premiere of Lliam Paterson’s The Angel Esmeralda, co-commissioned by Scottish Opera and GSMD. They were a Gwen Catley Scholar, a Weaver’s Scholar and Brian Nisbet Early Music Prize Winner.
Born in Connecticut, Shay started training as a countertenor at the age of 16 at the Juilliard School’s Pre-College Division, and later when on to receive a bachelor’s degree in music at McGill University in Montréal, Canada. After moving to London to complete postgraduate studies at the Guildhall School of Music, they then completed a Fellowship in the historical performance department as a keyboard player. Other operatic roles performed include the title role of Cavalli’s Giasone, Ottone in L’Incoronazione di Poppea, Silvio in Handel’s Il Pastor Fido, Tolomeo in Handel’s Giulio Cesare, Goffredo in Handel’s Rinaldo. Shay’s concert engagements have taken them to the London Handel Festival, the Barbican Hall, the Wigmore Hall, Black Heath Early Music Festival and the Brighton Early Music Festival.