Leslie Tay’s portrayal of Nerone in New Opera Singapore’s 2017 production of Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea was hailed by the Straits Times as being “outstanding for his formidable presence”.

His unique versatility is seen in his performances in recent years which include Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte and Rossini’s La Cenerentola at the Esplanade Concourse; Singapore’s first opera film, Mozart’s Idomeneo with The Opera People; the world premiere of Michael Ching’s digital opera All Dressed Up with L’arietta during Circuit Breaker; the role of the Emperor in SRT’s The Nightingale; the world premiere of Lim Boon Keng the Musical; a concert of all Russian song in celebration of Russia’s Victory Day; the art installation Sonic Blossom at the National Gallery as well as collaborations with Indian Classical musicians and T.H.E Dance Company. He was recently heard in the role of Sellem in Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress in New Opera Singapore’s 2021 marionette film version of the opera.

He made his Carnegie Hall debut with New York Lyric Opera as Guillot in Massenet’s Manon. He has sung with companies including Dicapo Opera (NYC) and Bronx Opera in operas such as L’elisir d’amore, Don Giovanni, Alcina, The Fairy Queen, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Madama Butterfly. He has also sung with the Boston Lyric Opera Chorus and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus. He was a young artiste in Lorin Maazel’s 2011 Castleton Festival. Locally, he has sung with Singapore Lyric Opera (Turandot) and Bellepoque.

Leslie graduated from Manhattan School of Music and Boston Conservatory. His voice students have consistently scored Distinctions in ABRSM, LCM and LAMDA examinations and have placed as top finalists in competitions such as the 2016 SLO-ASEAN Vocal Competition, the American Protege Competition held at Carnegie Hall, the Brilliant Talent Discovery Awards and the 2020 Sheng Siong Show Singing Competition. They have also been invited to perform in Childaid 2016/17/18 as well as the touring productions of The Sound of Music (Singapore, 2017) and Evita (Singapore, 2018). His students have also been offered admission to schools such as SOTA and Yong Siew Toh Conservatory. He is currently on the teaching faculties of Kodaly Academy of Music (Singapore), Voices of Singapore as well as SOTA (School of the Arts).