Tobias Cole

Tobias Cole uses his unique understanding of music and its resonant powers as well as his virtuosic countertenor and baritone voices to create joyful, exhilarating and ultimately transcendental experiences for people of all ages. He sees every rehearsal and performance, whether as a conductor, singer, actor or MC, as an opportunity to remind people of their humanity and inspire them to tap their enormous potential. 

Tobias Cole is a Green Room Award winning singer (Xerxes, Victorian Opera) and highly sought-after choral director based in Canberra. From Julius Caesar to Oberon and Akhnaten, Tobias has performed most of the principal countertenor roles with major companies in Australia and overseas. In 2019 to 2021 he performed the role of Captain Corcoran in Gilbert and Sullivan’s HMS Pinafore in Sydney and regional NSW. 

Dedicated to music education Tobias directs a number of youth and community choirs including Canberra Children’s Choir (Music for Canberra), Vocal Fry and Sing with Toby (ANU Community Music Centre), ANU Chamber Choir (Sublime Voices) and ANU Chamber Singers. As an ensemble singer himself he was a guest artist with The Song Company for twenty years and in 2014 established his own professional vocal quartet Clarion which has given over one hundred performances of Evensong in the National Portrait Gallery. His opera company Handel in the Theatre was launched in 2016 and has since staged three highly acclaimed productions of Handel’s English operas in the Canberra Playhouse. He is host of Classical Capers, a classical open-mic, every month at Smiths Alternative and prepares ANU Chamber Singers annually for the nationally televised Australian of the Year Awards. 

Since 2022 he has been the director of the CSO Chorus (Messiah, St John Passion, Beethoven 9, The Art of the Score:The Music of John Williams) and has presented eight Opera Salon programs at Smiths Alternative. His sixth program Glorious!A Handel Celebration was presented in The Theatre at Belconnen Arts Centre as part of Smiths@Belco last December. In 2025 Tobias has started another series at Smiths called Serenade where participants learn two love songs in 60 minutes then perform them to the people on Alinga Street.