British tenor Simon Mascarenhas Carter is currently studying at the Royal College of Music, London in the second year of the Master’s programme in Vocal Performance under the tutelage of Patricia Rozario OBE, with the support of a Leverhulme Arts scholarship. He is grateful to be coached by Joseph Ramadan and Bryan Evans MBE.

Recently Simon covered the role of Ferrando in Così fan tutte at the inaugural Da Ponte Opera Festival held in Vittorio Veneto, the town of the librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte’s birth. Simon was a Waterperry Opera Festival young artist in their 2024 programme, performing in the chorus for Rossini’s The Barber of Seville and in the young artist gala; a curated programme of scenes and arias, his roles included Fenton (Falstaff), Lysander (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Faust (Faust), Eisenstein (Die Fledermaus), Il Podesta (La Finta Giardiniera) and Lacouf (Les Mamelles de Tirésias). Simon also maintains a busy schedule as a concert soloist with highlights from the 2023-2024 season including, Puccini’s Messa di Gloria, Britten’s Saint Nicolas, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle, Monteverdi’s Vespro della Beata Vergine, Stölzel’s Ein Lämmlein geht und trägt die Schuld and Handel’s Messiah.

During his first year at the RCM, Simon made his role debut in the RCM International Opera Studio’s production of Lehár’s The Merry Widow as Raoul de St. Brioche. Also at the RCM, he performed in the chorus for Gazzaniga’s Don Giovanni and performed two roles in the RCM-Tête à Tête collaborative opera showcase ‘Revolutions’, Adriuisha in I Romance by Alisa Zaika and Young Man in Fanny and Stella’s Last Day Out by Jasper Dommett. Simon is looking forward to performing the role of Don Curzio in the RCM International Opera Studio’s spring production of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro.

Prior to joining the Royal College of Music in 2023, Simon worked as a hospital pharmacist and sang as a lay clerk in the choir of Kings College Cambridge. Highlights include performing with the Academy of Ancient Music, being involved in a CD recording of a new work, ‘The Street’ by Nico Muhly and singing in the annual Christmas and Easter televised BBC broadcasts. As an undergraduate Simon studied Pharmacy at the University of East Anglia in Norwich where he held choral scholarships at St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic cathedral and subsequently at Norwich cathedral. He participated in multiple broadcasts, concerts with the Britten Sinfonia and two CD recordings, ‘Evening Hymn’ and ‘Britten: Sacred Choral Works’, in the latter of which he features as a soloist.

Outside of singing, Simon can often be found playing squash, a passion he has maintained since childhood where he played for his home county of Cambridgeshire. He also enjoys cooking, gardening and windsurfing.