Brownlee’s vocalism was staggeringly secure, attractive and impactful over a huge range.”

Opera Magazine

Morley floated her vocal lines with engaging lightness…fine accompaniment from Moore, whirling through streams of figuration at the piano…”

Washington Classical Review

Vocal Arts DC presents

Lawrence Brownlee, Tenor

Erin Morley, Soprano

Gerald Martin Moore, Piano

Golden Age

Sunday, Sept 28, 2025

Kennedy Center Terrace Theater

2:00 PM

Single tickets for Golden Age will become available starting July 15!

Vocal Arts DC’s 35th anniversary season opens with two favorite artists. Soprano Erin Morley and tenor Lawrence Brownlee unite in recital with Golden Age, joined by renowned pianist & collaborator Gerald Martin Moore.

Leading up to the release of their long-awaited album, Golden Age, this recital offers audiences a rare opportunity to experience two of today’s most celebrated voices in a boutique setting, showcasing music that is deeply personal to them.

Their program highlights the soaring elegance of Bel Canto masterpieces alongside the lush harmonies of early 20th-century French composers. From dazzling vocal fireworks to moments of sublime lyricism, Morley and Brownlee bring unparalleled technical brilliance and heartfelt expression to every phrase, making this a must-see event for lovers of song and operatic excellence alike.

*Selections TBA! 

SOUND WORLD OF LAWRENCE, ERIN & GERALD

LISTEN TO LAWRENCE!

 

LISTEN TO ERIN & GERALD!

MEET THE ARTISTS

LAWRENCE BROWNLEE, TENOR

Lawrence Brownlee is a leading figure in opera, both as a singer who has graced the world’s leading stages, and as a voice for activism and diversity in the industry.

MORE ABOUT LAWRENCE!

Captivating audiences and critics around the globe, he has been hailed as “an international star in the bel canto operatic repertory” (The New York Times), “one of the world’s leading bel canto stars” (The Guardian), and “one of the most in-demand opera singers in the world today” (NPR).

In the 2024-2025 season, Mr. Brownlee made his highly anticipated role debut in the title role of Mozart’s Mitridate, re di ponto with Boston Lyric Opera. He also returned to The Metropolitan Opera as Count Amaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia (broadcast Live in HD in theaters worldwide), and joined Opéra national de Paris as Tonio in La fille du régiment and Arturo in I puritani, as well as The New National Theatre in Tokyo as Count Almaviva, and Bayerische Staatsoper as Tonio. On the concert stage, Mr. Brownlee joined Levy Sekgapane in a duo concert with the Latvian National Orchestra, L’Auditori in the closing concert, and embarked on a recital tour featuring songs from his acclaimed Rising program across North America and Europe.

Highlights of Mr. Brownlee’s recent seasons include his return as Ernesto in Don Pasquale at Teatro alla Scala Milan and as Tonio in La fille du régiment at Lyric Opera Chicago, as well as his role debuts as Tamino in Die Zauberflöte at The Metropolitan Opera, as Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor at The New National Theatre Tokyo and Fernand in a new production of Donizetti’s La Favorite with Houston Grand Opera.

In spring 2021, Brownlee joined The Juilliard School as a Distinguished Visiting Faculty Member. He serves as artistic advisor for Opera Philadelphia and is an Ambassador for Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Lyric Unlimited as well as Opera for Peace.

ERIN MORLEY, SOPRANO

Erin Morley is one of today’s most sought-after coloratura sopranos. She has stepped into the international spotlight in recent years with a string of critically acclaimed appearances in the great opera houses of the world.

MORE ABOUT ERIN!

Erin Morley has been praised for the “silken clarity of her voice and the needlepoint precision of her coloratura” (New York Times). A recipient of the Beverly Sills Award, and a graduate of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, her performances have garnered huge critical acclaim worldwide and she regularly appears on the greatest opera stages, such as the Vienna State Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Royal Opera House, Bavarian State Opera, Opéra National de Paris, Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona, Teatro La Fenice, Glyndebourne Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Los Angeles Opera and of course, Metropolitan Opera where she has now sung more than 100 performances and has been featured in eight “Live in HD” broadcasts. 

In the 2024-25 season Morley returns to the Metropolitan Opera with a double appearance: as Olympia in The Tales of Hoffman and Gilda in Rigoletto. Further highlights include Gilda and a special performance of Orff’s Carmina Burana at the Arena di Verona and Cunegonde in concert performances of Candide at Semperoper Dresden. Elsewhere on the concert platform, Morley will tour in Berlin and Vienna as soloist with Maestro Christian Thielemann and the Staatskapelle Berlin with a program of Strauss Orchesterlieder, as well as appearances with Boston Baroque and Boston Symphony Orchestra. In recital, she presents Wolf’s Italienisches Liederbuch together with Huw Montague Rendall and Malcolm Martineau at London’s Wigmore Hall and Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw; and presents her “Rose in Bloom” program at Park Avenue Armory, Yale School of Music, Friends of Chamber Music, and the BRAVO! Series at Brigham Young University.

Last season saw Morley making her highly anticipated company debuts at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden as Gilda in Rigoletto, and at Teatro la Fenice in Venice as Zerbinetta in a new production of Ariadne auf Naxos. On the concert platform further highlights included her debut at the Arena di Verona in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, and Morgana in Alcina with Les Musiciens du Louvre under the baton of Marc Minkowski at Teatro alla Scala to mark the release of a new recording of the opera on Pentatone. Further concert engagements included the soprano soloist in Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Orchestre de Paris under the baton of Andrés Orozco Estrada; a gala concert with Washington Concert Opera; Poulenc Gloria with Houston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Juraj Valčuha; Brahms Requiem with the Orchestra of St Luke’s at Carnegie Hall conducted by Xian Zhang; and recitals in Berkeley and at the Kennedy Center, Washington DC, to mark the release of her solo recital album, “Rose in Bloom.”  

Recent operatic highlights include: Pamina in a new production of Die Zauberflöte, the title role in Matthew Aucoin’s Eurydice, Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier and Olympia in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, all at the Metropolitan Opera; her Teatro alla Scala debut as  Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos; Gilda in a new production of Rigoletto, Tytania in a new production of Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Zerbinetta, and Sophie, all at the Wiener Staatsoper; Norina in Don Pasqualeand Zerbinetta both at Glyndebourne Festival; a critically acclaimed debut in one of the most iconic coloratura title roles in Lakmé with Washington Concert Opera; Gilda at Staatsoper Berlin; Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail and Sophie at Opéra de Paris; Fiakermilli in Arabella and Gilda at Bayerische Staatsoper; the title role of Lucia di Lammermoor in Nancy; Tytania, Roxana in Krol Roger, Mme Silberklang in Der Schauspieldirektor and the title role in Stravinsky’s The Nightingale, all at Santa Fe Opera. Cunegonde in Candide is another role that Morley has made her own and has performed in stellar company at LA Opera with James Conlon and actors Kelsey Grammer and Christine Ebersole; with Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Philadelphia Orchestra with Alek Shrader, Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan; and at the Carnegie Hall Centenary with John Lithgow. 

Equally at home on the concert platform, Morley has performed with leading orchestras such as Cleveland Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, LA Philharmonic, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Staatskapelle Dresden and Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. Recent successes include Beethoven Missa Solemnis with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Riccardo Muti; Carmina Burana with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood Festival conducted by Andris Nelsons; Mozart’s Mass in C Minor for the Mostly Mozart Festival at the Lincoln Center, conducted by Louis Langrée, a tour with Harry Bicket and The English Concert, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Met Chamber Ensemble in Carnegie’s Zankel Hall; and Poulenc Gloria with the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Lorenzo Viotti at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and Vienna’s Musikverein. Morley also appeared in the famous televised New Year’s Eve concerts with the  Staatskapelle Dresden and Christian Thielemann, performing Princess Mi in Léhar’s Das Land des Lächelns. She has collaborated with the Staatskapelle Dresden on tour as well, again with Maestro Thielemann, in a program of Strauss Orchesterlieder, including a world premiere of Thomas Hennig’s “Nacht.” A dedicated recitalist, Morley’s appearances include collaborations with pianists Vlad Iftinca, Ken Noda, Gerald Martin Moore, and Malcolm Martineau.

Morley’s debut recital disc with Gerald Martin Moore, “Rose in Bloom,” released in 2024 and has received critical acclaim worldwide, praising the ‘crystalline debut of a new high coloratura star’. Morley’s many recordings include Morgana in a complete recording of Handel’s Alcina for the Pentatone label, Eurydice in the Met’s GRAMMY-nominated recording of Matthew Aucoin’s Eurydice, Princesse Isabelle in Meyerbeer’s Robert le Diable with Opéra National de Bordeaux for Palazzetto Bru Zane, Sister Constance in the Met’s GRAMMY-nominated Les Dialogues des Carmélites, as well as Sophie in the Met’s GRAMMY-nominated Der Rosenkavalier on DVD/Blu-Ray for the Decca label; Mater Gloriosa in the LA Phil’s GRAMMY-winning Mahler Symphony No. 8 with Gustavo Dudamel for Deutsche Grammophon; Princess Mi in the Staatskapelle Dresden’s Das Land des Lächelns with Christian Thielemann for Unitel; Sandrina La Finta Giardiniera with Emmanuelle Haïm in Opéra de Lille’s production for the Erato label; Woglinde Götterdämmerung in the Metropolitan Opera’s GRAMMY-winning Lepage Ring Cycle for Deutsche Grammophon; Marguerite de Valois in Les Huguenots, live from Bard SummerScape for the American Symphony Orchestra; Carl Nielsen’s Symphony No. 3 “Espansiva” with Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic for Da Capo Records; and Sylvie in Gounod’s opéra-comique La Colombe with Sir Mark Elder and The Hallé Orchestra for the Opera Rara label. 

Morley spent her early years studying violin and piano, and frequently collaborated with her mother, violinist Elizabeth Palmer. An undergraduate of the Eastman School of Music, she went on to earn her Master of Music voice degree from The Juilliard School and her Artist Diploma from the Juilliard Opera Center in 2007, where she received the Florence & Paul DeRosa Prize. Morley also trained at the Opera Theatre of St. Louis as a Gerdine Young Artist, the Ravinia Festival Steans Institute, and the Wolf Trap Opera Company as a Filene Young Artist. She won 1st Prize in the Jessie Kneisel Lieder Competition in 2002, and 1st Place in the Licia Albanese Puccini Foundation Competition in 2006. She also received the Richard Tucker Career Grant in 2013, the Beverly Sills Award in 2021, the Opera News Award in 2023, the Eastman School of Music Centennial Award in 2023, and the Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the French government in 2024. 

Erin Morley is represented by MWA Management worldwide. 

GERALD MARTIN MOORE, PIANO

An internationally renowned voice and opera pedagogue, Gerald Martin Moore has worked as a vocal consultant for major opera productions at the Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Edinburgh International Festival, La Scala, Opéra National de Paris, and Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, and with such acclaimed performers as Renée Fleming, Erin Morley, Sabine Devieilhe, Natalie Dessay, Dame Sarah Connolly, Magdalena Kožená, Elīna Garanča, Isabel Leonard, and Javier Camarena.

MORE ABOUT GERALD!

Moore is the director of the Yale Opera and coordinator of vocal studies at the Yale School of Music. He has served as artistic associate of Carnegie Hall’s SongStudio program led by celebrated soprano Renée Fleming. Moore has given master classes at the Merola Opera Program, Los Angeles Opera Young Artist Program, and Washington National Opera. He has taught at the Ravinia Festival’s Steans Music Institute, Music Academy of the West, the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center, Opéra de Montréal’s Atelier lyrique, the Glyndebourne Festival, Curtis Institute of Music, and the Santa Fe Opera’s Apprentice Program for Singers. He has also worked as a collaborative artist for opera, film, and television productions and is a frequent recitalist, most notably with Renée Fleming.

Moore studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and at the National Opera Studio in London.

 

These performances are external rentals presented in coordination with the Kennedy Center
Campus Rentals Office. Performances are not produced by the Kennedy Center.

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