From Ireland, Paul McNamara has sung in theatres throughout Europe where his many notable successes have included his debut in Venice at La Fenice as Wagner’s Tannhäuser conducted by Omer Meir Wellber and critically acclaimed performances at the Deutsche Oper Berlin in Braunfels’ Szenen aus dem Leben der heiligen Johanna. Further afield, the tenor won widespread approbation for his North American debut with the American Symphony Orchestra under its chief conductor Leon Botstein, where his performance in Max von Schillings’ opera Mona Lisa  was hailed by the audience and critics alike.

Operatic engagements elsewhere include the Teatr Wielki in Warsaw, Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, NI Opera, Cape Town Opera, the Opera Lesna in Sopot (Poland), Opera Ireland, the Janáček Festival in Brno, the National Opera in Almaty, Kazakhstan, the Theatro Municipal, Rio de Janeiro, and with the Salzburg Festival at the Beijing Music Festival. Concert appearances have taken him to many of the world’s leading venues including the Berlin Philharmonie, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and New York’s Carnegie Hall. In April 2018 the tenor appeared for the first time in Berlin's newest concert hall, the Pierre Boulez Saal, while other concert engagements included debuts with the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin at the Telemann-Festival in Hamburg, at the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester, in Paris with Orchestre national d’Île-de-France (scenes from Die Walküre and Parsifal) and with the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra (Siegfried Act III).

In addition to Wagner’s Claudio (Das Liebesverbot), Erik, Loge, Tannhäuser, Tristan, Siegfried and Parsifal, McNamara’s extensive repertoire encompasses roles by Monteverdi, Cavalli, Mozart, Weber, Meyerbeer, Tchaikovsky, Leoncavallo, Dvořák, Strauss, Janáček, Zemlinsky, Berg, Britten, Previn, Penderecki and Adams.

Current and upcoming engagements include appearances with the Nederlandse Reisopera, the Berliner Staatsoper, Saarländisches Staatstheater Saarbrücken, the Opéra Royal de Versailles and Opéra national du Rhin, Strasbourg.