The American heldentenor Clay Hilley is among the most important international representatives of his fach.

He has appeared repeatedly at the Bayreuth Festival, the Bavarian and Hamburg State Operas, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London, the Baden-Baden Festival, the Edinburgh International Festival, and the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, to name just a few.

Among his most significant roles are Tristan, Parsifal, Siegfried, Tannhäuser, Florestan (Fidelio), Bacchus (Ariadne auf Naxos), and the Emperor (Die Frau ohne Schatten).

In the 2025/26 season his engagements include Tristan in new productions at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Gran Teatre del Liceu. He also returns as Tannhäuser and Bacchus (Ariadne auf Naxos) to the Vienna State Opera, as Parsifalto the Bavarian State Opera, and with the Ring des Nibelungen to the Deutsche Oper Berlin.

Under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin he will also sing Siegfried in concert on a European tour, and under Sir Antonio Pappano he performs Tristan und Isolde in concert with the London Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican Centre and on a European tour.