Bass-baritone Nicholas Brownlee is a first prize winner of the Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition, winner of the Zarzuela prize at Operalia, and a grand prize winner of The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. In 23/24 he returns to the Ensemble at Oper Frankfurt for a new production of Aida (Amonasro) and revivals of Salome (Jochanaan) and Carmen (Escamillo). Additional season highlights include debuts with Irish National Opera for Faust (Méphistophélès), Teatro dell’Opera di Roma for Salome (Jochanaan), Dutch National Opera for Fidelio (Don Pizarro), and Bayreuther Festspiele for Das Rheingold (Donner). Future seasons include debuts at Semperoper Dresden, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Staatsoper Stuttgart, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and a return to the Bayreuther Festspiele.
Last season he returned to the Ensemble at Oper Frankfurt for Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (Hans Sachs) and Don Giovanni (Leporello). Additional season engagements included returns to The Dallas Opera for Das Rheingold (Wotan), Bayerische Staatsoper for Die Teufel von Loudun (Grandier) and Der Freischütz (Caspar), and The Santa Fe Opera for the title role in Der fliegende Holländer. At Oper Frankfurt Nicholas has been seen in Salome (Jochanaan), Oedipus Rex (Kreon), Die Frau ohne Schatten (Der Geisterbote), Fedora (De Siriex), Król Roger (title role), Rigoletto (Monterone), and Bluebeard’s Castle (title role). Additional engagements included 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). He debuted at Opernhaus Zürich in a new production of Simon Boccanegra (Paolo) directed by Andreas Homoki and conducted by Fabio Luisi and returned 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 (Caspar) 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). He made his debut at The Metropolitan Opera in Salome (First Soldier) conducted by Johannes Debus. While a member of the Young Artist at LA Opera, he was been seen in Les pêcheurs de perles (Nourabad), Die Zauberflöte (Speaker), Madama Butterfly (Bonze) and Moby-Dick (Captain Gardiner), all conducted by James Conlon. Additional productions of La bohème (Colline) include LA Opera conducted by Gustavo Dudamel and Atlanta Opera. He debuted at Teatro de São Carlos in Lisbon in Calixto Bieto’s production of Carmen (Escamillo). He was seen at The Santa Fe Opera in Salome (First Soldier) and in a new Stephen Wadsworth production of Fidelio (Don Fernando) conducted by Harry Bicket.
Mr. Brownlee debuted with the Houston Symphony Orchestra in Dvořák’s Te Deum conducted by Andres Orozco-Estrada and with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra in Verdi’s Messa da Requiem conducted by Kent Nagano. He 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. Also with the LA Philharmonic, he was seen in Pelléas et Melisande (Doctor) with Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting. He sang Stravinsky’s Les Noces with the Los Angeles Master Chorale.
2023-2024
