Lawrence Brownlee: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

These days, Lawrence Brownlee spends most of his time on the stages of the world s great opera houses. That s where you ll find him singing Rossini and Donizetti. His supple, strong, highflying voice can negotiate the tightest hairpin turns with grace and elegance; that, and his ability to command the stage as an actor, has won Brownlee the praise of critics worldwide. But as much as he excels at opera, there s a special place in Brownlee s heart for AfricanAmerican spirituals. Growing up in Youngstown, Ohio, Brownlee sang gospel music in church, and now he s returning to that tradition by releasing a new album, Spiritual Sketches and singing selections from it here in the NPR Music offices. Brownlee bases much of his operatic success on his sturdy churchmusic grounding. I would say that the flexibility I have with my voice is in large part because I sang gospel in church, Brownlee told NPR in 2007. It s a lot of improvisational singing with a lot of riffs or The spirituals might be wellkno