Nicholas Brownlee
Bass-Baritone
The first-prize winner of the 2016 Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition, the Zarzuela prize at Operalia 2016, and 2015 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, bass-baritone Nicholas Brownlee enters his final season as a Domingo-Coblurn-Stein Young Artist at Los Angeles Opera.
In the 2016-2017 season, Nicholas Brownlee will make his Metropolitan Opera debut as the First Soldier in Salome conducted by Johannes Debus and returns to Los Angeles Opera for productions of Tosca and Salome. He will debut at Teatro de São Carlos in Lisbon as Escamillo in Calixto Bieto’s production of Carmen. Recent role debuts at Los Angeles Opera include Sprecher in Die Zauberflöte, the Bonze in Madama Butterfly and Captain Gardiner in Moby Dick, all conducted by James Conlon in the 2015-2016 season. He also sang Colline in La bohème conducted by Gustavo Dudamel at LA Opera, as well as debuted at Atlanta Opera in the same role. With the LA Philharmonic, he was seen as the Doctor in Pelléas et Melisande with Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting.
Recently, Mr. Brownlee made his Los Angeles Philharmonic debut under Gustavo Dudamel in Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy and returned for performances of a new multimedia staging by Netia Jones of Chin’s Alice in Wonderland under Susanna Mälkki, which traveled to the Barbican in London with the BBC Symphony. As part of the LA Opera Young Artist Program, he covered Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro under James Conlon and Bluebeard in Barrie Kosky’s production of Bluebeard’s Castle. In the summer of 2015, he returned to Santa Fe Opera to sing the 1st Soldier in Salome, as well as cover Monterone in Rigoletto, Sulpice in La fille du régiment, and Stobrod/Blind in the world premiere of Cold Mountain. Mr. Brownlee spent the summer of 2014 as an Apprentice Artist with the Santa Fe Opera, where he made his debut as Don Fernando in a new Stephen Wadsworth production of Fidelio under the baton of Harry Bicket.
Mr. Brownlee received his Master of Music degree from Rice University where he studied with Dr. Stephen King. He received his Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance from the University of South Alabama. His operatic roles include Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro and the King in Ariodante at Rice University, Doctor Grenvil in La traviata with the Wolf Trap Opera Company, the title role in Gianni Schicchi with South Alabama Opera Theater, and Prince Gremin in Eugene Onegin with the International Vocal Arts Institute in Tel Aviv. He was part of the inaugural Young Artist Vocal Academy with Houston Grand Opera; in addition, he spent a summer in Beijing with I Sing Beijing. In 2011, he was a national semi-finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and was the 2014 winner of the Palm Springs Vocal Competition, as well as the 2016 Richard Tucker Music Foundation Sara Tucker Study Grant.
In the 2016-2017 season, Nicholas Brownlee will make his Metropolitan Opera debut as the First Soldier in Salome conducted by Johannes Debus and returns to Los Angeles Opera for productions of Tosca and Salome. He will debut at Teatro de São Carlos in Lisbon as Escamillo in Calixto Bieto’s production of Carmen. Recent role debuts at Los Angeles Opera include Sprecher in Die Zauberflöte, the Bonze in Madama Butterfly and Captain Gardiner in Moby Dick, all conducted by James Conlon in the 2015-2016 season. He also sang Colline in La bohème conducted by Gustavo Dudamel at LA Opera, as well as debuted at Atlanta Opera in the same role. With the LA Philharmonic, he was seen as the Doctor in Pelléas et Melisande with Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting.
Recently, Mr. Brownlee made his Los Angeles Philharmonic debut under Gustavo Dudamel in Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy and returned for performances of a new multimedia staging by Netia Jones of Chin’s Alice in Wonderland under Susanna Mälkki, which traveled to the Barbican in London with the BBC Symphony. As part of the LA Opera Young Artist Program, he covered Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro under James Conlon and Bluebeard in Barrie Kosky’s production of Bluebeard’s Castle. In the summer of 2015, he returned to Santa Fe Opera to sing the 1st Soldier in Salome, as well as cover Monterone in Rigoletto, Sulpice in La fille du régiment, and Stobrod/Blind in the world premiere of Cold Mountain. Mr. Brownlee spent the summer of 2014 as an Apprentice Artist with the Santa Fe Opera, where he made his debut as Don Fernando in a new Stephen Wadsworth production of Fidelio under the baton of Harry Bicket.
Mr. Brownlee received his Master of Music degree from Rice University where he studied with Dr. Stephen King. He received his Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance from the University of South Alabama. His operatic roles include Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro and the King in Ariodante at Rice University, Doctor Grenvil in La traviata with the Wolf Trap Opera Company, the title role in Gianni Schicchi with South Alabama Opera Theater, and Prince Gremin in Eugene Onegin with the International Vocal Arts Institute in Tel Aviv. He was part of the inaugural Young Artist Vocal Academy with Houston Grand Opera; in addition, he spent a summer in Beijing with I Sing Beijing. In 2011, he was a national semi-finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and was the 2014 winner of the Palm Springs Vocal Competition, as well as the 2016 Richard Tucker Music Foundation Sara Tucker Study Grant.
