{"id":7426,"date":"2023-03-26T23:35:09","date_gmt":"2023-03-26T23:35:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/?p=7426"},"modified":"2023-03-28T19:09:59","modified_gmt":"2023-03-28T19:09:59","slug":"in-conversation-with-renowned-tenor-lawrence-brownlee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/2023\/03\/in-conversation-with-renowned-tenor-lawrence-brownlee\/","title":{"rendered":"In Conversation With Renowned Tenor Lawrence Brownlee"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Lawrence Brownlee is a world-renowned operatic tenor, specializing in the Italian bel canto repertoire. He has performed to great acclaim in numerous major theaters around the world, including the Metropolitan Opera, Wiener Staatsoper, Teatro alla Scala, and Royal Opera House \u2013 Covent Garden. He earned a Master of Music degree from Indiana University, and, in 2001, was awarded a Grand Prize in the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions. In 2017, he was named \u201cMale Singer of the Year\u201d at the International Opera Awards and, in 2021, he won the Opera News Award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having always been a fan of Brownlee\u2019s, I reached out to his agency earlier this year to ask for an interview. He happily accepted, and, on March 11th, I had the privilege of sitting down with him to discuss his life and career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alkis Karmpaliotis: <\/strong>Tell me about your journey to the opera stage. What sparked your interest in music and theater?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lawrence Brownlee: <\/strong>Well, it started when I sang in a church choir as a kid. My father directed the choir, my mother sang solos. I\u2019m one of six kids so we were always involved in music, and we had a great deal of appreciation for it in the house. Then, when I got into high school and joined the choir there, one of my teachers said \u201cthere\u2019s something about your voice that lends itself to classical music, so you should definitely do this.\u201d At that time, I wasn\u2019t sure exactly what I wanted to do \u2014 I thought about maybe going to law school, that\u2019s where my interest was \u2014 but he said \u201cyou need to see if there\u2019s a place for you in music.\u201d I had another teacher in my senior year of high school \u2014 I did some lessons with him \u2014 who told me that I didn\u2019t need to go to law school, and that I had to go to music school and try to become an opera singer. So, that was the beginning of a journey; I fell in love with it. Before then, I didn\u2019t really know what opera was about; I thought, just like everyone else, that opera was just a lot of fat people singing in a foreign language and breaking glass. [Laughs]. But then, I got to understand that it\u2019s really so much more than that, and I grew to love opera, as I love it today. It\u2019s not only my job; it\u2019s my passion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AK:<\/strong> In 2001, you won the Grand Prize at the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. What was that like for you and how did it help kickstart your career?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LB:<\/strong> It was such an important part of my career. Any American opera singer knows that if you win the Met, it gives you automatic publicity. People see you and want to know, \u201cwho is this person?\u201d You can be seen and viewed and heard on a really wide scale, so that was an important boost, as people got to know who I was as a singer. Lawrence Brownlee had arrived. That opened so many doors for me; people were interested to know who I was, what my voice was like, and all these other things. That\u2019s how winning in 2001 jump started my career and put me in front of so many important people in the industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AK:<\/strong> Do you remember, by any chance, what you sang at the Auditions?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LB:<\/strong> Yes, I sang two pieces, one by Rossini and one by Donizetti. The Rossini piece was \u201cLanguir per una bella\u201d from L\u2019italiana in Algeri \u2014 the Italian girl in Algiers; I also sang \u201cAh, mes amis,\u201d the one with the nine high C\u2019s, from La Fille du Regiment \u2014 the Daughter of the Regiment \u2014 by Donizetti. Those were the pieces that allowed me to win the competition, and they have been very important in my career to date. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

AK: <\/strong>Throughout your career, you\u2019ve consistently been one of the best bel canto tenors in the world. What goes into singing music by composers such as Rossini, Donizetti, and Bellini?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LB:<\/strong> First, you have to have the natural ability to sing in this high tessitura, with a high position in the vocal line. You have to have a flexible voice and sing with elegance and grace. For me, it\u2019s all about having that natural ability, but also working to build on my technique and understand the languages I sing \u2014 French, Italian, German. I\u2019ve also worked on my comedic acting, which helps as well, as many of these bel canto roles are comedic. All of this contributes to me being able to stay in that realm of being one of the most important singers in opera. Once you get the opportunity to do something and do it well, people will want to hear you. I remember getting, in 2001, my first contract to sing one of these roles at Milan\u2019s La Scala in Italy. That\u2019s pretty much the height of the operatic world, so if you can have success at that house, other important houses across the world will be interested in having you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AK: <\/strong>I recently wrote an article for my website, AppreciateOpera.org<\/a>, entitled Black Voices in Opera, in which I highlighted the work of African-American artists and outlined some of their experiences in a field that often lacks racial diversity. What does it mean to you to be an African-American man in the opera industry? How do you use your voice and music to convey a message about your identity?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LB:<\/strong> I have used my voice to make change. The reason my voice resonates in that way is because I have been successful, so, because people know my work first, because of my cach\u00e9, because of my reputation, people are willing to hear what I have to say when I speak out on racial issues. I\u2019m a very proud Black man, I\u2019m very proud of my heritage. I try to let my work do the talking, and be an effective communicative singer \u2014 someone who has something to say and stands up for other people. I\u2019m fighting for other people, I\u2019m fighting for myself, and I\u2019m fighting for the younger generation. Some African-Americans before me opened the doors for me, so it is my responsibility to continue to fight so that there won\u2019t be any inequity in our business. A lot of the people who have the opportunity to make change, such as directors and conductors, are colleagues of mine, so I can hold their feet to the fire and say, \u201clook, you need to make this change.\u201d People are listening to me because of my reputation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AK: <\/strong>You mentioned that there have been some past African-American singers or musicians that have laid the groundwork for the change you\u2019ve made in the industry. Who are some of your inspirations, not only in social justice, but in music?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LB:<\/strong>  There are so many wonderful musicians that are not necessarily just classical. For example, I\u2019m a big fan of Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, as well as George Shirley, who\u2019s an operatic singer, Leontyne Price, Martina Arroyo and Simon Estes. All these people, they endured some more difficult times so I could have the opportunities I\u2019ve had and not have as many difficulties as they did. I honor them, they mean a lot to me, and they were very important to all of us in the music industry. Because of what they did and what they went through, I am fortunate to not have so many problems today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AK: <\/strong>On that topic\u2026 This month, you are premiering a new song cycle, Rising, which sets texts written during the Harlem Renaissance to music. Throughout March, you are scheduled to perform the program alongside pianist Kevin J. Miller across the United States. Tell me about the program and the tour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LB:<\/strong> I\u2019m looking forward to Rising. Rising grew out of the pandemic when we were all sitting at home. It was an opportunity for me to empower some young African-American composers. I am someone who does a lot of song recitals,  and I usually present a lot of Strauss, Duparc, Poulenc, and Mozart, so, since I\u2019m getting the chance to sing at Carnegie and Wigmore and all these other places, I thought it would be great to give a voice to all these young African-American composers and have their works premiered. I commissioned all of these works, with the words all being by writers and poets of the Harlem Renaissance \u2014 people that I grew up reading, like Langston Hughes, W.E. du Bois, James Baldwin, so many other wonderful writers. It seemed like a perfect marriage, giving these people something to write about, something they could use to inspire their musical voice. That\u2019s how Rising came to be. So, when I first talked to my agent, I said, \u201cI want to do a tour of this and I want to use my friend Kevin Miller, who\u2019s also an African-American pianist.\u201d We thought that it would have a great deal of impact. So what am I looking forward to? I\u2019m looking forward to showing off the wonderful writing styles of these composers, but also the wealth of poetry and beautiful storytelling of some of these great poets of the Harlem Renaissance, even some that are less well-known. I think it\u2019ll be a great opportunity to inspire young African-American singers; but not only them, as the music of African-American composers is not only meant for African-Americans. The goal is just to expose, expos  and expose, and hopefully open up the hearts and minds of the people that come to see Rising. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

AK: <\/strong>I\u2019m very much looking forward to Rising next Thursday at Carnegie Hall. After the tour, you will conclude your season at the Metropolitan Opera in June, where you will sing Tamino in Mozart\u2019s Die Zauberfl\u00f6te.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LB: <\/strong>I\u2019m excited because the absolute first role that I ever sang in opera was Tamino from The Magic Flute. When I was 19 years old and didn\u2019t know what an opera singer was, someone called me a \u201cTamino\u201d, and I said \u201cwhat is a Tamino?\u201d [Laughs]. She said, \u201cyou\u2019ve been cast in the opera\u201d so I said, \u201cwhat? I guess I\u2019m a Tamino!\u201d But, coming full circle, coming to the Met, having been there several times, and getting the chance to go back, is great. I haven\u2019t been to the Met since 2015, which is a long, long time, so to be able to take on that role, to sing with several friends, to make a return after eight years, means a lot to me. The fact that the people at that house respect me and want to have me back means a lot, so I\u2019m excited to show the growth that I\u2019ve had as a singer since I was there in 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AK: <\/strong>Interesting. How does singing Mozart differ from singing bel canto?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LB:<\/strong> Mozart\u2019s a bit different. The writing style has a different approach. It\u2019s a little bit lower, less floored, less melismatic, less flexible. But I\u2019m excited to sing in German, which I appreciate a great deal. It\u2019ll be a challenge for me, but one that I am looking forward to embracing, so I cannot wait to hit that stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AK: <\/strong>On a more personal note, many readers are curious about the lifestyle that comes with being a musician. How do you balance the work and travel that come with your profession with your hobbies and social life?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LB: <\/strong>Well, it\u2019s not easy. I have two kids and a wife, so juggling family life and trying to give them the care and the maintenance they need is very important for me as well. I tell them that I want to make the most of the time we have together. My daughter, the other day, told me, \u201cdad, you\u2019re gone a lot,\u201d and I said, \u201cI know, I\u2019m sorry.\u201d [Laughs]. The beautiful thing now is that she\u2019s getting older and she has the international travel bug, so she\u2019ll want to travel with me to all these places. As I do less and less in the future, we\u2019ll have more time together \u2014 but you have to balance it. That\u2019s the real hard part, being away from your family. But, being on the road, I always try to enjoy some of the hobbies that I have. I love to play tennis, I love to play table tennis, photography, salsa dancing, cycling. These are things that I love to do as much as I can, so I can have a happy life outside of my career, because it\u2019s not only just about the career \u2014 you have to be a whole person, you have to have a happy life. Trying to find that balance, trying to find that happiness in the midst of all you have to do as an artist. It\u2019s been 25 years that I\u2019ve been doing this, so I\u2019ve gotten better at it, and I continue to learn. But I enjoy my career a great deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AK:<\/strong> As a side note, your website mentioned that one of those hobbies is that you\u2019re a big Celtics fan, which stood out to me because I\u2019m a huge Celtics fan myself!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LB:<\/strong> I have been since the old days! [Laughs]. You\u2019re only 16 years old, but I\u2019ve been watching since the days of some of the greatest Celtics of all time. Larry Bird, of course, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Dennis Johnson. I remember the Dee Brown years, I remember Joseph Forte, I remember Len Bias. I\u2019m a big, big Celtics fan, so, hopefully Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown and all these guys can pull it together and we\u2019ll see if we can make any noise in the playoffs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AK: <\/strong>Hopefully! Circling back to music, one of the primary purposes of my website is to make opera and classical music more accessible to young people. What are some tips or suggestions you have that might encourage kids to give such music a chance?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LB:<\/strong> I think just showing them that they can identify with the stories. If you think about The Marriage of Figaro, they can identify with that story. You have the Count, who tries to have his way with a younger girl, Susanna, and he tries to use his wit to do that. Any child can understand funny stories like this. It\u2019s the same thing they might see in a movie, but this is different because it’s living, breathing theater in the opera house that\u2019s accompanied by music. So, how do you make opera more accessible to kids? Give them a good introduction and explanation and then allow the music to do it itself. If you\u2019re going to the opera, if you\u2019re going to The Magic Flute, tell them the story of The Magic Flute before they get there. If, beforehand, you can give them a good introduction, take the time to cultivate their knowledge of the art form itself. I think that will go a long way, so in the future, if they don\u2019t know an opera \u2014 one that\u2019s in Czech or Russian or French \u2014they\u2019ll be open because they\u2019ll understand the structure and they\u2019ll understand how much the music contributes to the story. It needs to start early, and we have to let the kids begin to understand how opera is even put together. Then, from that knowledge, they\u2019ll be able to have a growing interest in the art form itself. How did you get involved in opera, if I may ask?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AK:<\/strong> Well, my parents always loved classical music and opera. Growing up, I would always hear music playing in the background. When I was younger, they would take me every now and then to see something, but I wouldn\u2019t think very much of it. But, over the years, I started to realize that this music is really cool. Around six to seven years ago, I fell in love with it and it became my favorite genre of music. When I was twelve, I built my website, AppreciateOpera.org, and it\u2019s gotten bigger and bigger ever since, as my passion for music has grown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LB:<\/strong> That\u2019s amazing. People like myself love meeting people like you. There\u2019s a stigma that opera is high-brow or ultra elitist, but it\u2019s not. When you see Dialogues des Carmelites (Dialogues of the Carmelites), in that chorus at the end where all the women are singing, and, every second, there\u2019s one less voice, until there\u2019s one voice at the end, and you realize that those women are going to the guillotine \u2014 once you understand these situations, you can be so affected by the music and the orchestration and how those things come together. There\u2019s a lot for people to understand about opera, and I hope that they will give it a chance and not feel like it\u2019s so far removed from just regular music. I really appreciate what you\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


AK: <\/strong>I also really appreciate what you\u2019re doing and what you\u2019ve done throughout your career as well. Thank you so much for speaking with me, and I very much look forward to seeing you onstage, both at Carnegie Hall and at the Met!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lawrence Brownlee is a world-renowned operatic tenor, specializing in the Italian bel canto repertoire. He has performed to great acclaim in numerous major theaters around the world, including the Metropolitan Opera, Wiener Staatsoper, Teatro alla Scala, and Royal Opera House \u2013 Covent Garden. He earned a Master of Music degree from Indiana University, and, in 2001, was awarded a Grand Prize in the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions. In 2017, he was named \u201cMale Singer<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":335,"featured_media":7427,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[319,435,318],"tags":[],"coauthors":[486],"class_list":["post-7426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts","category-culture","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Screen-Shot-2023-03-26-at-7.28.25-PM.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/335"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7426"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7426\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7428,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7426\/revisions\/7428"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7426"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=7426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}