A native of Philadelphia, American countertenor Lawrence Zazzo studied English and Music at Yale University and King’s College, Cambridge, before making his operatic debut as Oberon in A Midsummer Night’s Dream whilst studying voice at the Royal College of Music, London. As an opera singer, he continues to perform in the world’s major opera houses, including the Wiener Staatsoper; the Metropolitan Opera; Opéra national de Paris; Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; Opernhaus Zürich; Oper Frankfurt; Teatro Real, Madrid; Staatsoper Berlin; Bayerische Staatsoper; La Monnaie, Brussels; Opéra National de Lyon; Festival d’Aix-en-Provence; Dutch National Opera; Staatsoper Hamburg; the Canadian Opera Company; and Glyndebourne.

Lawrence has worked with leading conductors in both early and contemporary music, including René Jacobs, Ottavio Dantone, William Christie, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Ivor Bolton, Emmanuelle Haïm, Rinaldo Alessandrini, Alessandro De Marchi, Leonardo García Alarcón, Christian Curnyn, David Bates, Paul Goodwin, Martyn Brabbins, James Conlon, and Simone Young. He has premiered new works by Jonathan Dove (Hojoki), Thomas Adès (The Tempest), Rolf Riehm (Sirenen, Die Tode des Orpheus), and Iain Bell (These motley fools).

A keen Handelian, his extensive discography includes the operas and oratorios Giulio Cesare, Rodelinda, Rinaldo, Serse, Riccardo Primo, Lotario, Partenope, Fernando Ré di Castiglia, Saul, Deborah, Athalia and Messiah. His solo recordings include Handel Uncaged (Handel’s alto cantatas including a world premiere of Amore Uccellatore), Byrdland (Dowland, Byrd, and Purcell with the Paragon Saxophone Quartet), Lunarcy (lute songs with Shizuko Noiri), and A Royal Trio (opera arias by Handel, Bononcini, and Ariosti). He recently collaborated with Wolfgang Katschner and Vivica Genaux in exploring gender ambiguity and disguise on Baroque Gender Stories, as well as a world premiere recording of Jonathan Dove’s Hojoki with the BBC Philharmonic. With a PhD in Music from Queen’s University Belfast, Lawrence regularly gives masterclasses, lectures and vocal workshops throughout the world and is a Lecturer in Music at Newcastle University.