Biography
Lawrence Brownlee is a leading figure in opera, both as a singer on the world’s top stages, and as a voice for activism and diversity in the industry. Captivating audiences and critics around the globe, he has been hailed as “an international star in the bel canto operatic repertory” (The New York Times), “one of the world’s leading bel canto stars” (The Guardian), and “one of the most in-demand opera singers in the world today” (NPR).
In the 22-23 season, Brownlee performs a program with longtime friend, collaborator, and fellow Rossini expert Michael Spyres titled, “Amici e Rivali” at the Theatre des Champs-Élysées in January 2023, in addition to the premiere of an exciting new program titled “Rising” which will feature Brownlee and pianist Kevin J. Miller performing newly commissioned songs by composers Shawn Okpebholo, Damien Sneed, Joel Thompson, and others with texts drawn from James Weldon Johnson and other great Black writers of the Harlem Renaissance. “Rising” will be performed at venues across the U.S. including Carnegie Hall, the Kimmel Center, Calderwood Studio at GBH Boston, and the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts at Emory University. He will make his role debut as Rodrigo in Rossini’s Otello as part of Opera Philadelphia’s Festival O22 in September 2022. In November, Brownlee will return to Lyric Opera of Chicago for the title role of Le comte Ory, and as Elvino in Bellini’s La Sonnambula at Teatro Real in Madrid in December. Brownlee will perform one of his signature Rossini roles as Count Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden in February 2023. Brownlee’s season ends with his return to the Metropolitan Opera as Tamino in a new production of Die Zauberflöte.
Read moreReviews
“Brownlee and Spyres follow in the distinguished footsteps of American Rossini tenors such as Bruce Ford, Chris Merritt, Rockwell Blake and Gregory Kunde. Their voices contrast very well. Brownlee’s tenor fits the Giovanni David mould, light and flexible with glistening brilliance in his upper register.”
“With his sweet tone, fastidious pitch, and poetic phrasing, Brownlee made familiar fare sound intriguingly fresh, banishing, for a moment, the ghosts of Caruso and Pavarotti.”
“He sang with agility, elegance and Rossinian style, tossing off high notes and roulades…this was a winning performance for an increasingly important artist.”
More Reviews
“With his sweet tone, fastidious pitch, and poetic phrasing, Brownlee made familiar fare sound intriguingly fresh, banishing, for a moment, the ghosts of Caruso and Pavarotti. “
“He sang with agility, elegance and Rossinian style, tossing off high notes and roulades…this was a winning performance for an increasingly important artist.”
“Mr. Brownlee won a deserved ovation for his beautifully vocalized and expressive singing of a concert aria, “Misero! o sogno… Aura che intorni spiri,” and a melting account of “Un’ aura amorosa” from Così Fan Tutte.”
“And there’s no better Rossini tenor today than Brownlee. The musical filigree that Almaviva has to maneuver through is so difficult to bring off without sounding winded that HGO added his final aria to “happy marriage” that’s usually cut in performance because nobody else but Brownlee can sing it. He sailed through it with sweet, powerful joy.”
“And tenor Lawrence Brownlee, all too rarely showcased on record, will have done his reputation no end of good with this finely, sensitively modulated showing.”
“Lawrence Brownlee, stylish and sweet-toned, is similarly untroubled by the high D flat in his aria’s precipitate dying fall.”
“While the judges deliberated, the tenor Lawrence Brownlee, fresh from his successful run in the Met’s production of Rossini’s Armida and a Met National Council Auditions winner 10 years ago, sang splendid accounts of Nadir’s confession of love from Bizet’s Pearl Fishers and the showstopper ‘Ah! mes amis’ from Donizetti’s Fille du Régiment, complete with ringing, effortless high Cs.”
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Contact
Matthew A. Horner - General Management
mhorner@imgartists.com
+1 212 994 3514
Devere Burnett - Artist Manager
devere@imgartists.com
+1 917 740 3470