With an acclaimed international performance career spanning over two decades, tenor Thomas Cooley continues to set the standard in his field, delivering memorable performances across the Americas, Europe, and Asia. These performances have taken him to 30 different states across the United States and to numerous countries worldwide. 

Cooley has made noteworthy appearances in major concert halls such as Carnegie Hall, Concertgebouw, Konzerthaus Berlin, Berlin Philharmonie, Tonhalle Zürich, Symphony Hall Boston, Avery Fisher Hall, Konzerthaus Vienna, Walt Disney Hall, Kennedy Center, Bavarian State Opera, Tchaikovsky Hall Moscow, and the KKZ Lucerne, Festival Hall Osaka, and Singapore’s Esplanade Hall, and has collaborated with distinguished conductors such as Helmuth Rilling, Donald Runnicles, Teodor Currentzis, Michael Tilson-Thomas, Nicholas McGegan, Robert Spano, Franz Welser-Möst, Bernard Labadie, Harry Bicket, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Osmo Vänskä, Eiji Oue, Lan Shui, Matthew Halls, David Robertson, Dame Jane Glover, Markus Stenz, Carlo Rizzi, Thomas Søndergård, Manfred Honneck, Jaap van Zweden, Edo de Waart, Paul McCreesh and Andrea Marcon.

Among Cooley's notable engagements are frequent collaborations with internationally acclaimed orchestras and ensembles such as the Bavarian Radio Symphony, Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig, New York Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Copenhagen Philharmonic, National Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, St. Louis Symphony, the National Arts Center Orchestra of Ottawa, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Trinity Wall Street, St. Thomas Fifth Avenue, Singapore Symphony, Mark Morris Dance Group, the Jerusalem Symphony, and the Osaka Philharmonic.

Renowned as an expert in the works of Handel and J.S. Bach, particularly in the role of the Evangelist, Cooley has performed this repertoire with renowned ensembles such as the Thomanerchor and Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig, the Windsbacher Knabenchor and the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, the Dresdener Kreuzchor and the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart. He also performs regularly with historically informed groups such as Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, the Göttingen and Halle Handel Festivals, Les Violons du Roy, MusicAeterna, Tafelmusik, Handel and Haydn Society, Boston Baroque, the Carmel and Oregon Bach Festivals, Pacific MusicWorks, Music of the Baroque and the Munich Bach Choir. Cooley has a close working relationship with the Baroque specialist Nicholas McGegan, with whom he has performed over one hundred times at the Göttingen Händelfestspiele, with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, with Cantata Collective and with leading orchestras all across the United States, as well as numerous CD recordings.

Thomas Cooley was a member of the ensemble at the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz in Munich from 2002 to 2006. Over his career, he has portrayed over 35 operatic roles with renowned institutions such as the Bavarian State Opera, the Krakow State Opera, Minnesota Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Göttingen Händelfestspiele, and with the Mark Morris Dance Group at Lincoln Center.

Thomas Cooley's discography includes 20 recordings with labels such as Carus, CPO, Deutsche Grammophon, Hänssler, MDG, Orchid Classics and Sony. An upcoming recording of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, under the baton of Nicholas McGegan, is planned for Avie Records 2025.

J.S. BACH | Christmas Oratorio | Washington Bach Consort

         “it was Cooley that held the night together. A natural Evangelist with a generous tenor and a gregarious presence, he drew gripping drama from potentially disposable recitative and sung with an inviting gentleness that effectively cloaked the brute force of his voice.” – The Washington Post

J.S. BACH | St. John Passion | Debrecen, Hungary | Helmuth Rilling, cond.

“Thomas Cooley is a world-class Evangelist.  He created an unforgettable evening with the rich nuances of his voice, clean intonation, with the interpretation of his two arias, and also by the fact that he presented the dramatic scenes with a sense of true devotion, and performed them with the credibility of an eyewitness.” — Café Momus

J..S, BACH | St. John Passion “Evangelist” | Münchner Kammerorchester/Windsbacher Knabenchor | Karl-Friedrich Beringer, conductor

“The American tenor Thomas Cooley threw himself into the story...  As the Evangelist he took every risk to increase the drama of the narrative.  The passion-story of Christ vibrated through his entire body.” — Berliner Morgenpost

J.S. BACH | St. Matthew Passion | Dresden

“It was also due to the merit of American tenor Thomas Cooley’s dramatically gripping Evangelist and movingly realized arioso solo passages that the drama (of this St. Matthew Passion) was so directly effective.” — Sächsische Zeitung

“Cooley carried this St. John Passion authoritatively, giving it his own personal stamp…relating the passion story of Jesus with intimate storytelling.  Versatile, from his ringing piano to his furious cries of terror, the continuo players were hard pressed to keep up with him.” — Sächsische Zeitung

BERLIOZ | L’Enfance du Christ | St. Paul Chamber Orchestra | Douglas Boyd, conductor

Thomas Cooley was underused as the Narrator. His honeyed tenor and sense of dramatic urgency were a major asset to the performance. — William Randall Beard, Star-Tribune

BERLIOZ | Requiem | Orchestra of St. Luke’s | Robert Spano, cond.

“Thomas Cooley, a tenor, sang with supernal sweetness in the Sanctus, his voice soaring from on high in the dress circle.” — The New York Times

BRITTEN | Turn of the Screw | “Peter Quint” | St. Paul Chamber Orchestra | Jayce Ogren, conductor

“The cast sang each role with clarity, confidence and convincing characterizations…this is an opera in which the villain casts a long shadow, and tenor Thomas Cooley proved breathtaking as Peter Quint, a ghost seemingly able to hypnotize his victims with, in Cooley's case, a velvety voice.” — Rob Hubbard, Pioneer Press – Twincities.com

"Thomas Cooley was a fierce, arrogant Quint, moving easily through the serpentine coils of Britten's score." — Michael Anthony, StarTribune

BRITTEN | War Requiem | Herkulessaal, Munich

“Britten’s dramatic idea of contrasting and combining the Latin Requiem text and English poetry of Wilfred Owens was especially effective in this concert…mostly because Thomas Cooley excelled, and not only in the piano passages, with his thoroughly multi-facetted tenor.  His charismatic singing was as though it were created for the setting of Owens shattering, desperate lyric facing the darkness of war and death.”

— Klaus Kalchschmid, Süddeutsche Zeitung

BRITTEN | War Requiem | Atlanta Symphony Orchestra

“Mr. Cooley brought a sweet, penetrating lyric tenor voice and aching sensitivity to his singing of the Owen poems, especially the first one Britten set in this score, which begins, “What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?,” music that captures the mix of graphic horror and haunting bitterness in the text.”

— Anthony Tommasini, New York Times

BRITTEN | War Requiem | Atlanta Symphony Orchestra | Donald Runnicles, cond.

"Thomas Cooley shone especially well in his part, exhibiting a range of emotions demanded by Owen’s text, his bright tenor voice capturing poignant lyricism, pathos or declamatory characteristic as needed."

— Mark Gresham, Arts ATL

HANDEL | Acis and Galatea | Music of the Baroque | Jane Glover, cond.

“More moving still was Cooley's solo performance of "Love in her eyes sits playing," which made me tear up within a few beats of the vocal entrance. Many singers have an incredible capacity for feeling, but it is quite another to externalize those feelings, and on top of it, to make yourself vulnerable to thousands of strangers! Cooley's deep capacity for feeling and his unique ability to express those feelings so immediately are true gifts.” — Stephen Raskauskas, BWW Dance World

“In particular, he spun out the hushed, languorous ‘Love in her eyes sits playing’ with an apparently endless supply of breath.” — Christopher Corwin, Musical America

“Thomas Cooley’s Acis gave the more incisive performance, turning even the simplest line of recitative into an arresting dramatic moment.” — James Jorden, New York Observer

HANDEL | Joshua | Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra | Nicholas McGegan, cond.

“…an indomitable musical force…Deploying a voice of both muscle and nuance, he barked out an order or spun out a long coloratura decoration with an unwavering sense of musical purpose. The high notes gave off a steady gleam. The passing tones were smooth and suave. And he looked the part, striding to his music stand from the church’s choir stalls for each solo turn and lifting his gaze to some shining, certain goal.”

— Steven Winn, San Francisco Classical Voice

HANDEL | Messiah | Seattle Symphony | Matthew Halls, cond.

“The tenor, Thomas Cooley, set the bar high with the production’s first vocal solo, the glorious “Comfort ye, my people,” and later with a powerfully dynamic “Thou shalt break them.” – Melinda Bargreen, Seattle Times

HANDEL | Tamerlano | “Bajazet” | Händel Festspiele Göttingen | Nicholas McGegan, conductor

“[Cooley] displayed fiendish agility and acted with vicious intensity throughout...[in a role that required] extended range, powerful volume and considerable facility with coloratura.”

— Carlo Vitali, Musical America

HAYDN | Die Schöpfung | Bamberger Symphoniker

“The tenor Thomas Cooley was a true surprise…he displayed an exceptionally multi-facetted portrayal of the various recitatives, with excellent diction and vocal expression of their meaning. The first Aria of the work, “Nun schwanden,” with its bright suppleness, set the pace for the following arias which he always sang with expressive sensibility.” — Fränkischer Tagblatt

HAYDN | Creation | Mostly Mozart Festival | Louis Langrée, cond.

Tenor Thomas Cooley’s attention to detail was a plus throughout the evening, and hushed moments were especially effective. His sweet tone characterized an arresting depiction of the silvery moon, and he created a gorgeous, awed moment in the recitative “In rosy mantle.” Observing the creating of Adam and Eve, Cooley maintained a sense of wonder and tenderness, ascending to a gorgeous pianissimo as Eve looks upon Adam with “love and joy and bliss.”  — Judith Malafronte, Opera News

HENZE | Kammermusik, 1958 | Cantata Profana

“Mr. Cooley’s penetrating tenor had power and depth. Yet he floated high, soft phrases with an ethereal delicacy that recalled Pears’s distinctive sound.” — Anthony Tommasini, New York Times

MAHLER | Das Lied von der Erde | Smithsonian Chamber Players

“Cooley coped very well with the very high tessitura that has defeated many a singer…a sweet and ingratiating quality that is appealing, especially in the quieter moments. Cooley's timbre matches Braun's baritone beautifully. He also has the high register to do the music justice…” — La Scena Musicale

MENDELSSOHN | Lobgesang “Hymn of Praise” | St. Paul Chamber Orchestra | Nicholas McGegan, cond.

“This neglected masterpiece proved an epiphany...a moving, exhilarating experience...for that, one can thank [the chorus and soloists], particularly the gentle power of tenor Thomas Cooley.  Each aria Cooley delivered was magnetic, but never more so than during a dark night of the soul that concluded with Pier offering a soaring solo of comfort from the third balcony.” — Ron Hubbard, St. Paul Pioneer Press

MOZART  | Don Giovanni | “Don Ottavio” | Orchestra of the 18th Century | Kenneth Montgomery, cond.

“And then ‘the Thomas Cooley case’, the Don Ottavio. What should we say? The man sang his two arias so inhumanly beautifully- his ‘Dalla sua pace’ was a diamond – that for a moment we no longer knew what we were doing. The last thing we are aiming for is the Fritz Wunderlich police, but our thoughts wandered for a moment to the best Mozart tenor ever. Cooley’s virtuosity and expressiveness are of an extraterrestrial level. A breathtaking climax.“ —Opera Gazette

 “The tenor in this opera is provided beautifully by Thomas Cooley’s dulcet tones, as Don Ottavio, who hopes to win Donna Anna’s hand by consoling her after the murder of her father, Il Commendatore. This for me was the outstanding performance of the evening.”—Arts Talk Magazine NL

“As Don Ottavio, the tenor Thomas Cooley showed us two voices at the premiere.  An extroverted and focused timbre in the recitatives, while showing a more subdued, at times almost velvety approach in his two arias.” —Opus Klasiek

SCHMIDT | Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln | "Johannes" | American Symphony Orchestra, Bard Festival | Leon Bostein, conductor

"Evangelist and narrator Thomas Cooley was given the most challenging part, one that clearly "makes or breaks" such a long oratorio. His impeccable tone, articulation, and expressivity were winning; I could not imagine a better performance. " — The Berkshire Review