Lawrence Jones
tenor
Tenor Lawrence Jones has established an active presence on the concert and operatic stages. He has received praise for his portrayals of Tom Rakewell in Stravinsky’s THE RAKE’S PROGRESS at the Princeton and Aldeburgh Festivals. The New York Times wrote, “Tenor Lawrence Jones brought a light, sweet voice and lyricism to Tom.” Opera Newspraised him for his “clean, ringing tenor,” and The Guardiandescribed him as “a smooth-voiced Tom….his first-act aria, lamenting the loss of love, is especially affecting”.
Mr. Jones has performed roles with companies such as New York City Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Opera Saratoga, Sarasota Opera, Amarillo Opera. On the concert stage, he has sung as a soloist with Musica Sacra, Boston Baroque, Boston Pops, Albany Symphony, Charlotte Symphony, Rhode Island Philharmonic, and the Utah Symphony, with whom he made his company debut in Stravinsky’s Pulcinella.
Most recently, Lawrence sang as a soloist in performances of Messiah at Carnegie Hall with the Oratorio Society of New York, and at Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue with the Saint Thomas Choir, for which the New York Times called him “an impressive tenor”. In 2016, Lawrence sang the role of Consigliere in Stradella’s San Giovanni Battista with Haymarket Opera of Chicago, and this past season he reprised his role in performances at the Valletta International Baroque Festival in Malta. His concert engagements last season include the role of the Evangelist in C.P.E. Bach’s St. John Passionwith the Saint Thomas Choir and New York Baroque Incorporated, and a program of Bach Cantatas with American Classical Orchestra. He made his debut at Alice Tully Hall in Schubert’s Mass in E-Flat with the Riverside Choral Society. This season he sings in Mozart’s Requiem and Mendelssohn’s Christus with the Back Bay Chorale and Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 with Voices of Ascension.
Active in the performance of contemporary works, he made his company debut in Oliver Knussen’s WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE at New York City Opera, and sang in the American Stage Premiere of Elliott Carter’s opera WHAT NEXT? At Tanglewood. Concert engagements have included, the American Premiere of Nico Muhly’s My Days viol consort Fretwork, Arvo Pärt’s Passio with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, and a tribute concert for Elliott Carter at Juilliard, in Mad Regales.
As a frequent performer of the works of Bach, Lawrence’s credits include the Evangelist in the Christmas Oratorio with the Harvard-Radcliffe Chorus, and tenor soloist in the St. John Passion with the Kalamazoo Bach Festival, Bach Society of St. Louis, and the New Mexico Philharmonic. In New York he sang as tenor soloist in the St. Matthew Passion with the Saint Thomas Choir and as the Evangelist in the St. John Passion with the Cathedral Choirs and Orchestra of St. John the Divine.
Lawrence has sung as a member of many professional chamber and vocal ensembles, including the Clarion Music Society, Ensemble Origo, TENET, and the renaissance vocal ensemble, Cut Circle. With the latter, he has toured across Europe, including performances in the Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium. With the Clarion Choir, he participated in the Grammy nominated recording of Maximilian Steinberg’s Passion Week, as well as in the accompanying tour which premiered the work in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and London.
