SearchBass-baritone Nicholas Brownlee is a first prize winner of the Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition, winner of the Zarzuela prize at Operalia, and The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions grand prize winner. Nicholas begins the 21/22 season with a return to the Ensemble at Oper Frankfurt where his assignments include Salome (Jochanaan), Oedipus Rex (Kreon), Die Frau ohne Schatten (Der Geisterbote), Fedora (De Siriex), Król Roger (title role), and Bluebeard’s Castle (title role). Additional engagements include debuts with Bayerische Staatsoper for La bohème (Colline), Wiener Staatsoper for Anna Bolena (Enrico) and La bohème (Colline), and returns to The Metropolitan Opera for La bohème (Colline), Opernhaus Zürich for Simone Boccanegra (Paolo), and The Santa Fe Opera for Tristan und Isolde (Kurwenal).
Highlights of last season included a debut at Opernhaus Zürich in a new production of Simon Boccanegra (Paolo) directed by Andreas Homoki and conducted by Fabio Luisi and a return to The Santa Fe Opera for new productions of Le nozze di Figaro (Figaro) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Bottom) both conducted by Harry Bicket.
Mr. Brownlee returned to LA Opera for La bohème (Colline) followed by new productions of Faust (Mephistopheles), Don Giovanni (Leporello), and revivals of Der Freischütz (Kaspar) and Les contes d’Hoffmann (Villains) at Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe. Concert engagements included a US tour with Bel Canto Trio and Beethoven Mass in C and Choral Fantasy with Cincinnati Symphony. He made his Bard Summerscape debut in the American premiere of Korngold’s Das Wunder der Heliane (Porter). Additional roles as a member of the ensemble at Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe include Simon Boccanegra (Paolo), Anna Bolena (Enrico VIII), Alcina (Melisso), and Roméo et Juliette (Frère Laurent).
