Whilst teaching physics, he returned to singing in 1996 with Morley Opera, for whom he performed: Tom, Un ballo in maschera, and Mephistophélès, Faust - both directed by Stephen Cannon; Sparafucile, Rigoletto, and Guglielmo, Così fan tutte - both directed by Stuart Maunder.

In April 1998, Carl joined Pavilion Opera, for whom he appeared over two seasons as Dr. Bartolo, Le nozze di Figaro; Un Fraate and Il Grande Inquisitore, Don Carlo; Commendatore, Don Giovanni, title role, Don Pasquale, and Oroveso, Norma, touring with them around England and in France and Japan. In the same year, he also covered Mikado for the D'Oyly Carte's production of The Mikado at the Royal Festival Hall.

In 1999, Carl performed the role of Blansac in Rosetta Cucchi's critically acclaimed production of Rossini's La Scala di Seta at the Wexford Festival, and in February 2000, he appeared as Osmin in British Youth Opera's production of The Escape from the Seraglio.

In summer 2000, Carl appeared as Zaretsky, Eugene Onegin, for Grange Park Opera; Raimondo, Lucia di Lammermoor, for Millennium Opera; and Il Bonze, Madama Butterfly, and Sergeant of Police, The Pirates of Penzance, for Open Air Music Theatre Company.

Carl completed the 2000/2001 course at the National Opera Studio, supported by The Royal Opera. He continues his studies with Neil Howlett.

Since leaving the Studio, Carl has performed Der Kammersanger in Garsington's production of Intermezzo; and covered Colline, La bohème, for Welsh National Opera. He then joined the European Opera Centre, singing the role of Collatinus, The Rape of Lucretia, which premiered in Hungary. He sang Masetto, Don Giovanni, for Garsington Opera in June 2002.