Lawrence Brownlee - Debut Song Recital (2005)

Something of a rarity in the early 21st century, tenor Lawrence Brownlee is best known for his finesse in bel canto roles, routinely drawing accolades for his elegant phrasing and his agility in high tessituras. He is an avid participant in community outreach and organizing, and he was among the artists chosen to perform at Jessye Norman's funeral in 2019. In 2020, Brownlee was heard opposite Michael Spyres on Rossini: Amici e Rivali.

Larry Everston Brownlee, Jr. was born on November 24, 1972, in Youngstown, Ohio. He earned his undergraduate degree from Anderson University, obtained his master's from Indiana University, and participated in the Seattle Young Artists program. At age 28, he was an audience favorite and grand prize winner at the 2001 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, where he sang Donizetti and Rossini. The following year, Brownlee made his debut with the Virginia Opera as Count Almaviva in Rossini's Il barbière di Siviglia. This success was soon followed by performances in works of similar composers at regional American opera houses, as well as various houses in Italy and Switzerland. Two critics declared that he "stole the show" in a 2004 Washington Concert Opera performance of Rossini's La donna del lago, and he earned similarly positive critical receptions in ensuing appearances in works as diverse as Rossini's L'Italiana in Algeri, Catán's Florencia en el Amazonas, and Lorin Maazel's 1984 -- Brownlee first worked with composer-conductor Maazel in a New York Philharmonic concert featuring excerpts from Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. In 2006, Brownlee won the Marian Anderson Award from the Kennedy Center and the Richard Tucker Award from the Richard Tucker Foundation. Seattle Opera brought Brownlee on for lead roles over the course of several seasons, one of which, Arturo in Bellini's I puritani, earned the tenor an Artist of the Year award in 2008. Brownlee performs on the international stage in concert as well, with such orchestras as the Detroit Symphony, Berlin Philharmonic, and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.

In 2015, Brownlee debuted the role of Charlie Parker in Daniel Schnyder's opera Yardbird with Opera Philadelphia, where he now serves as artistic advisor; he has performed this opera throughout the U.S. and Europe. Brownlee is active in community outreach, both with Opera Philadelphia and each city he performs in, putting considerable time and effort into expanding and diversifying opera audiences. In 2018, Brownlee premiered Tyshawn Sorey's song cycle, Cycles of My Being, illustrating life for a Black man in the present-day U.S. He has also designed and put on concert series to this end, such as 2019s Lawrence Brownlee and Friends at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Giving Voice at the Houston Grand Opera in 2020. During the coronavirus shutdown of 2020, Brownlee launched The Sitdown with LB, a weekly social media series.

Brownlee's recording career began on a 2005 Warner Classics release of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana, with Sir Simon Rattle conducting the Berlin Philharmonic. Brownlee's solo debut, Italian Songs for Tenor and Piano, with pianist Martin Katz, came the following year on EMI Classics and featured works by Schubert, Verdi, Donizetti, and more. In 2014, Brownlee issued Virtuoso Rossini Arias, his first solo album with orchestra, the Kaunas City Symphony under Constantine Orberlian, which earned a Grammy nomination. Brownlee appeared opposite Michael Spyres in 2020 on an Erato album of Rossini duets titled Rossini: Amici e Rivali. ~ Keith Finke