About Lawrence Brownlee

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Named 2017 “Male Singer of the Year” by both the International Opera Awards and Bachtrack, American-born tenor Lawrence Brownlee has been hailed by The Guardian as “one of the world’s leading bel canto stars.” Brownlee captivates audiences and critics around the world, and his voice has been praised by NPR as “an instrument of great beauty and expression…perfectly suited to the early nineteenth century operas of Rossini and Donizetti,” ushering in “a new golden age in high male voices” (The New York Times). Brownlee also serves as Artistic Advisor at Opera Philadelphia, helping the company to expand their repertoire, diversity efforts and community initiatives.

The 2018-19 season starts with two evenings of duets with bass-baritone Eric Owens hosted by the Cliburn, followed by a night of arias at Amsterdam's famed Concertgebouw. Operatic engagements this season include two role debuts in North American houses, singing Nadir in Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers with Houston Grand Opera and Ilo in Rossini’s Zelmira with Washington Concert Opera, as well as returns to several international opera houses, performing in La Cenerentola at Opéra national de Paris, La sonnambula at Opernhaus Zürich and Deutsche Oper Berlin, and I Puritani at Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège. His season also features a 17-stop US tour with bass-baritone Eric Owens performing at the Seattle Symphony, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and more, as well as a performance at Carnegie Hall in March 2019 with Jason Moran and Alicia Hall Moran as part of “Migrations: The Making of America — A Citywide Festival.”

“His music made good use of…structure, with a score that moved briskly through a complex psychological evolution.”

Highlights from last season included returns to the Royal Opera House - Covent Garden, Opernhaus Zürich, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Bayerische Staatsoper, and Opéra national de Paris, as well as the world premiere and recital tour of a new song cycle, Cycles of My Being. The cycle centers on what it means to be an African American man living in America today, touching on the recent series of tragic deaths and the Black Lives Matter movement, and was composed by Tyshawn Sorey, with lyrics by Terrance Hayes, both of whom are MacArthur ‘Genius’ Grant Winners. Co-commissioned by Opera Philadelphia, Carnegie Hall, and Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Lyric Unlimited, Cycles of My Being had its world premiere in Philadelphia before moving on to Chicago, San Francisco, Carnegie Hall and more. The piece was hailed by the San Francisco Chronicle as “a work of both anguish and optimism, at once accusatory and stirring...whose traversal feels like a descent into a maelstrom followed by the emergence out the other side”, while the Chicago Tribune praised how “Sorey’s music allows Brownlee to do what he does best — to soar effortlessly into the vocal stratosphere, nail perfectly placed high notes and invest them with expressive meaning.”

One of the most in-demand singers around the world, Brownlee has performed with nearly every leading international opera house and festival, as well as major orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Boston Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, and the Bayerische Rundfunk Orchestra.

Highlights from last season included returns to the Royal Opera House - Covent Garden, Opernhaus Zürich, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Bayerische Staatsoper, and Opéra national de Paris, as well as the world premiere and recital tour of a new song cycle, Cycles of My Being. The cycle centers on what it means to be an African American man living in America today, touching on the recent series of tragic deaths and the Black Lives Matter movement, and was composed by Tyshawn Sorey, with lyrics by Terrance Hayes, both of whom are MacArthur ‘Genius’ Grant Winners. Co-commissioned by Opera Philadelphia, Carnegie Hall, and Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Lyric Unlimited, Cycles of My Being had its world premiere in Philadelphia before moving on to Chicago, San Francisco, Carnegie Hall and more. The piece was hailed by the San Francisco Chronicle as “a work of both anguish and optimism, at once accusatory and stirring...whose traversal feels like a descent into a maelstrom followed by the emergence out the other side”, while the Chicago Tribune praised how “Sorey’s music allows Brownlee to do what he does best — to soar effortlessly into the vocal stratosphere, nail perfectly placed high notes and invest them with expressive meaning.”

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