There are certain perks that come with being an internationally renowned opera singer. There’s the travel, of course, and the public showering of praise after a job well done. For tenor Lawrence Brownlee, though, the biggest perk is how his platform can now lend support to other projects.
Brownlee has made a name for himself as one of the world’s best bel canto tenors, meaning that his voice is particularly suited to the lyrical, agile singing required for early 19th century Italian operas. (Think Rossini, Donizetti, Bellini.) It was in the role of Almaviva in Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville” that Brownlee made his professional debut in 2002; since then, he has reprised Almaviva with opera companies all over the world, and is repeatedly hailed as one of (if not the) best Rossini tenors performing today.
But over the past few years, fans have been just as likely to see Brownlee slipping into new, experimental roles as Almaviva’s stylish frock coat.
This Sunday, Brownlee will bring one such project to local audiences with the Baltimore premiere of “Cycles of My Being,” a song cycle made in collaboration with composer Tyshawn Sorey and poet Terrance Hayes that investigates the experience of living as a black man in today’s America.
