by Peter Feher
Lawrence Brownlee was still in master-class mode when he visited the Cleveland Chamber Music Society on April 26. The star tenor, born and raised in Youngstown, brought an educational element to his recital at the Maltz Performing Arts Center.
The program, “Song of My Youth,” served as an introduction not just to Brownlee’s artistry but more generally, to the world of classical vocal music. Songs in the three “big” languages (Italian, German, French) filled the first half, and excerpts from opera, musical theater, and elsewhere comprised the second. It all made for a concise overview of the standard styles in which any voice student today should be well versed, and Brownlee played up this aspect of his selections cheerfully. [Read more…]
“At a time in our country when we could use something that’s truly uplifting — that celebrates an enormous triumph of the human spirit — this concert is just such an experience,” Youngstown Symphony music director Randall Craig Fleischer said during a recent phone call.
Last week, pianist Craig Terry shared Akron’s Thomas Hall stage with opera stars Lawrence Brownlee and Eric Owens for a Tuesday Musical concert — it was fantastic. On Wednesday, February 27 at 7:30 pm, the pianist will return to Northeast Ohio for a performance on the Oberlin Artist Recital Series, where he will share the Finney Chapel stage with mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato.
It’s not every day that a performer can be judged to be one of the two or three best in the world. Tenor Lawrence Brownlee could make that claim, but he probably wouldn’t, at least not publicly. Brownlee, a native of Youngstown, Ohio, a Steelers and Ohio State football fan, and an aficionado of good food, is a down-to-earth guy who happens to be one of the leading current examples of that rare species, the bel canto tenor. 
Cleveland Institute of Music faculty members Jason Vieaux, Jaime Laredo, Alan Bise and Bruce Egre and pianist Daniil Trifonov are among the nominees for the 57th Grammy Awards, to be presented in Los Angeles on February 8.