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Lawrence Brownlee

Lawrence Brownlee (born November 24, 1972) is an American operatic tenor particularly associated with the bel canto repertoire. Describing his voice, Speight Jenkins, general director of the Seattle Opera, said: "There are other singers that sing this repertory very well, but I don't think anyone else has quite as beautiful a sound and as rounded a tone," and praise his "incredible top notes", adding about his high F (F5) in "Credeasi, misera": "With him it's not a scream, it's a beautiful sound."[1] Mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato adds: "He is always in service of the music. His natural instrument is just incredibly beautiful. The word 'honey' comes to mind. He also has technical prowess and agility."[1]

Career[edit]

Brownlee's professional stage debut took place in 2002 as Almaviva in Rossini's The Barber of Seville with Virginia Opera.[5] Brownlee made his Metropolitan Opera debut in a new production of Il Barbiere di Siviglia in 2007. The role has since become one of his most recognizable and famous.[1] He has subsequently appeared in Il Barbiere in Vienna, Milan, Berlin, Madrid, Dresden, Munich, Baden-Baden, Hamburg, Tokyo, New York, Washington, San Diego, Seattle, and Boston.[4] Brownlee's career highlights include performances of The Barber of Seville at the Vienna State Opera, the Boston Lyric Opera and Madrid's Teatro Real. He has appeared in Rossini's L'italiana in Algeri and La Cenerentola at Milan's La Scala, as Belfiore in Rossini's Il viaggio a Reims in Brussels, and as Tonio in Donizetti's La fille du régiment at the Cincinnati Opera. He has also received acclaim in Rossini's Armida, alongside Renée Fleming,[7] in the famously challenging role of Tonio in La fille du régiment, and as Arturo in I puritani[8] at the Metropolitan Opera.[1] In 2014 Brownlee, Juan Diego Flórez, and Javier Camarena were called "The Three Tenors," and said to "represent a new golden age in high male voices and in the singular thrill of their top notes."[9]


In concert, Brownlee has performed in Handel's Messiah with the Houston Symphony and the San Francisco Symphony. He has given recitals under the auspices of the Marilyn Horne Foundation, and was featured in one of that Foundation's Gala Concerts at Lincoln Center.[4][10] In May 2010, Brownlee performed a concert with mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves in the United States Supreme Court Building for the Supreme Court justices.[11] He also gives recitals with selections from his Spiritual Sketches album with Damien Sneed, new arrangements of traditional music, including for an NPR "Tiny Desk Concert".[12][13]


Brownlee created the role of Syme in Lorin Maazel's opera 1984 in its world premiere at London's Royal Opera House on May 3, 2005. In 2015, he performed the role of Charlie Parker in the premiere of Daniel Schnyder's opera Yardbird at Opera Philadelphia.[14] In 2018, Brownlee premiered Cycles of My Being, commissioned by Opera Philadelphia, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Carnegie Hall, composed by Tyshawn Sorey and poetry by Terrance Hayes. This song cycle centers on what it means to be a black man living in America today; in 2020 it was made into a film with Opera Philadelphia and released on their digital channel.

Personal life[edit]

Brownlee lives in Niceville, Florida[15] with his wife, Kendra, and their two children. He is a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers. He also likes photography and playing table tennis, and is an avid salsa dancer.[1] He sang the national anthem at Heinz Field on November 15, 2015, when the Steelers played the Cleveland Browns.

Winner of the 2005 .[2]

Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions

Winner of the 2006 Award[2]

Richard Tucker

Winner of the 2007 Award [2]

Marian Anderson

Winner of the 2008 Opera Company of Philadelphia's Alter Award for Artistic Excellence

[16]

's Artist of the Year in 2008 for his performances as Arturo in Bellini's I puritani.[17]

Seattle Opera

Spiritual Sketches – Lawrence Brownlee, Damien Sneed. Label: LeChateau Earl Records B00DE0SZ96

The Heart That Flutters – Lawrence Brownlee, . Label: Opus Arte B00CK1PAJS

Iain Burnside

Virtuoso Rossini Arias – Lawrence Brownlee, , Kaunas City Symphony. Label: Delos B00IL85VR0

Constantine Orbelian

Maazel: Simon Keenlyside, Nancy Gustafson, Richard Margison, Diana Damrau, Lawrence Brownlee; Orchestra & Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Lorin Maazel (conductor). Label: Decca DVD 074 3289

1984

Orff: Sally Matthews (soprano), Lawrence Brownlee (tenor), Christian Gerhaher (baritone); Berlin Philharmonic; Simon Rattle (conductor). Label: EMI Classics CD 57888/EuroArts/Opus Arte DVD, EUA 2053678

Carmina Burana

Italian Songs (Schubert, Verdi, Donizetti, Bellini, and Rossini) – Lawrence Brownlee (tenor), (piano). Label EMI Classics CD 86503

Martin Katz

Mayr: Elżbieta Szmytka, Evelyn Pollock, Lawrence Brownlee, Mark Milhofer, Wojtek Gierlach; Figerete Ymeraj, Andrés de Castillo, Carlos Petruzziello; Chorus and Orchestra of the Theater St. Gallen; David Stern (conductor). Label: OEHMS Classics OC 933

Medea in Corinto

Rossini: Renée Fleming, Lawrence Brownlee, John Osborn, Barry Banks, Kobie van Rensburg, Yegishe Manucharyan, Keith Miller; Chorus and Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera; Riccardo Frizza (conductor). Label: Decca DVD 074.3416

Armida

Rossini: Elīna Garanča, Lawrence Brownlee, Giovanna Donadini, Nathan Gunn, Roberto Accurso, Bruno de Simone, Kristinn Sigmundsson; Münchner Rundfunkorchester; Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks; Miguel Gómez-Martínez (conductor). Label: Sony/BMG 822876 80429 2

Il barbiere di Siviglia

Rossini: – Rachelle Durkin, Elīna Garanča, Lawrence Brownlee, Patricia Risley, Simone Alberghini, Alessandro Corbelli, John Relyea; Chorus and Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera; Maurizio Benini (conductor). Label: Deutsche Grammophon DVD 073 4577

La Cenerentola

Rossini: – Ruth Gonzalez, Marianna Pizzolato, Elsa Giannoulidou, Lawrence Brownlee, Bruno de Simone, Lorenzo Regazzo, Giulio Mastrototaro; Rossini in Wildbad Festival, Virtuosi Brunensis; Transylvania State Philharmonic Choir; Alberto Zedda (conductor). Label: Naxos 8.660284-85

L'italiana in Algeri

Rossini: Amici e Rivali - , Lawrence Brownlee (tenors), I Virtuosi Italiani, Corrado Rovaris (conductor). Label: Erato.

Michael Spyres

Rossini: Anna Netrebko (soprano), Joyce DiDonato (mezzo-soprano), Lawrence Brownlee (tenor), Ildebrando d'Arcangelo (bass); Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia; Antonio Pappano (conductor). Label: EMI Classics 5099964052922

Stabat Mater

Rossini Songs (Il Salotto – Volume 13) – , Jennifer Larmore, Catherine Wyn-Rogers, Mark Wilde, Lawrence Brownlee, Brindley Sherratt; Malcolm Martineau (piano). Label: Opera Rara ORR247

Mireille Delunsch

Operngala 16, Festliche Operagala für die AIDS-Stiftung – , Ailyn Pérez, Petra-Maria Schnitzer, Lawrence Brownlee, Ketevan Kemoklidze, Renata Pokupić, Peter Seiffert, Michael Volle; Chorus and Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin; Andriy Yurkevych (conductor). Label: Naxos 8.551233

Simone Kermes

Colbran, The Muse – (mezzo-soprano), Lawrence Brownlee (tenor); Orchestra e Coro dell'Accademia Nazionale de Santa Cecilia; Edoardo Müller (conductor). Label: Virgin Classics 945790 6

Joyce DiDonato

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Official website