The tenor Lawrence Brownlee is many things. According to the Chicago Tribune, he is ‘an international opera star, a serious photographer, an avid tennis and table-tennis player, a fantasy football junkie’. There is no-one to touch him in the bel canto operatic repertory, and he has become a stirring voice for activism and diversity in the music industry. Making his first appearance with the Abu Dhabi Festival, he will sing a dazzling array of works, ranging from Rossini to Verdi, to the piano accompaniment of Fabio Centanni.