Conal Coad received his first training in New Zealand and at the New South Wales Conservatorium of Music Opera School before joining Opera Australia, where he performed a number of roles before leaving for Europe .  He settled in Belgium making his debut with the Opéra de Wallonie as Ashby in La Fancuilla del West and has since sung with all the major companies there in the principal bass roles: Osmin (Il Seraglio), Bartolo (The Marriage of Figaro), Sparafucile (Rigoletto), Procida (I Vespri Sicilliani), Zaccaria (Nabucco), Ferrando (Il Trovatore), Raimondo (Lucia di Lammermoor) and Koenig Heinrich (Lohengrin).  In France he has sung Don Ferrando in Fidelio at Bordeaux , Wurm in Luisa Miller at Montpellier and elsewhere in Europe .  In Israel he has sung in Cendrillon, the role of Dulcamara in L’Elisir d’Amore, Sparafucile (Rigoletto), Oroe (Semiranide), Bartolo (The Marriage of Figaro), Ramfis (Aida) and Mustafa (L’Italiana in Algeri).

In 1995 Conal sang Ramfis in the Paris Bercy production of Aida.  Other appearances during that season included Osmin Il Seraglio, Bartolo in The Marriage of Figaro, and Mustafa (L’Italiana in Algeri) in France, Timu in Turandot for Wellington City Opera, New Zealand, and Prince de Bouillon (Adriana Lecouvreur) for Opera Australia (for which he won a Green Room Award), Gremin in Eugene Onegin and Bartolo in The Marriage of Figaro for Opera Queensland.  Other roles for Opera Australia included Superintendent Budd (Albert Herring), Bartolo The Marriage of Figaro, and Don Magnifico La Cenerentola.

Conal Coad was a principal guest artist for the 1996 New Zealand International Festival of the Arts where he sang Dikoy (Katya Kabanova), Rocco (Fidelio), Janacek’s Glagolitic Mass and Mahler’s Eighth Symphony.  Other notable operatic work in 1996 included a new production of Nettuno & Antinou Il Ritorno D’Ulysse in Patria at the Grand Theatre, Geneva .  Since 1997 he has played the title role in Don Pasquale for Opera Queensland and The State Opera of South Australia, as well as numerous roles in Sydney and Melbourne for Opera Australia where he is a regular guest artist.

Other engagements include Don Magnifico in La Cenerentola for Opera Australia and NBR New Zealand Opera; the Grand Inquisitor in Don Carlos, La Roche in Capriccio and Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Opera Australia.  Il Commendatore (Don Giovanni) and Sarastro (Die Zauberflöte) in Portugal, the title role in Falstaff at Opera North, Dansker in Billy Budd at The Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Naples and major recitals at La Monnaie in Brussels and Kensington Palace in London.  Following this he sang Pooh-Bah in The Mikado for Opera Queensland, Dulcamara (L’Elisir d’Amore), Bottom (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) and Bartolo (The Marriage of Figaro) for Opera Australia. 

A major success during 2001 was as Sir John Falstaff for NBR Opera New Zealand. 

In 2002 Conal performed Bartolo (The Marriage of Figaro) and Rocco (Fideli) for Opera Australia followed by Baron Ochs (Der Rosenkavalier) for Opera North, UK , as well as roles for Opera Australia and other international engagements.

In 2003 Conal performed in Lulu and A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Opera Australia and Rocco in Fidelio for London ’s Holland Park Opera.  

In 2004 he repeated the role of Bottom in Italy for La Fenice under the baton of Sir John Elliott Gardiner as well as Don Magnifico in La Cenerentola for West Australian Opera.  He then returned to Opera Australia for Manon.  Following this he performed Dansker in Billy Budd for the Washington National Opera.

In 2005 Conal performed Leporello in Don Giovanni for West Australia Opera and NBR Opera New Zealand in both Wellington and Auckland , Roméo et Juliette for  Opera Australia in Sydney and Melbourne , and Bottom for Opera Real, Madrid in the Pizzi production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream . 

In 2006 performed in the John Cox/David Hockney production of The Rake’s Progress for Opera Australia, the title role in Don Pasquale for Garsington Festival Opera in the UK , a role he then performed in New Zealand while making his highly successful Directing debut.

2007 saw him perform Il Barbiere di Siviglia for Opera Australia, L’Elisir d’Amore for South Australian Opera, and, in Europe , Billy Budd under the baton of Simone Young and The Barber of Seville for Hamburg State Opera.

In 2008 Conal sang in Arabella (Opera Australia in Sydney and Melbourne with Richard Hickox conducting), Il Barbiere di Siviglia (West Australian Opera), the famed Jonathan Miller production of The Secret Marriage (BAM New York), as well as Dansker in Opera Australia’s production of Billy Budd alongside fellow New Zealander Teddy Tahu-Rhodes.

2009 commenced with the Pizzi production Der Vampyr in Bologna , Swallow in Peter Grimes at the San Carlo Naples conducted by Jeffrey Tate, then The Marriage of Figaro in Perth .  This was followed by Opera New Zealand’s The Italian Girl (Rossini).   Conal performs Rocco in Fidelio during Opera Australia’s Sydney season.

Other future engagements include Lisbon , Garsington Festival (UK), Opera Australia and West Australian Opera.

Notable concert engagements include work with all the major Australasian orchestras, the Israel Philharmonic, at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, La Monnaie Brussels, as well as festivals in France , Belgium , Germany , Holland , Australia and New Zealand .  Conal’s concert repertoire also includes Mozart concert arias, negro spirituals and Cole Porter works.