A countertenor is a male singing voice whose vocal range is equivalent to that of a contralto, mezzo-soprano, or (less frequently) a soprano, usually through use of falsetto, or far more rarely than normal, modal voice. A pre-pubescent male who has this ability is called a treble. This term is used exclusively in the context of the classical vocal tradition, although numerous popular music artists also prefer employing falsetto.

The term first came into use in England during the mid 17th century, and was in wide use by the late 17th century. However, the use of adult male falsettos in polyphony, commonly in the alto range, was common in all-male sacred choirs for some decades previous, as early as the mid-16th century, and modern-day ensembles such as the Tallis Scholars and The Sixteen maintain the use of male altos in period works. During the Romantic period, the popularity of the countertenor voice waned and few compositions were written with that voice type in mind.

In the second half of the 20th century, the countertenor voice went through a massive resurgence in popularity, partly due to pioneers such as Alfred Deller, by the increased popularity of Baroque opera and the need of male singers to replace the castrati roles in such works. Although the voice has been considered largely an early music phenomenon, there is a growing modern repertoire.^[1][2][3]

The countertenor in history[link]

In polyphonic compositions of the 14th and early 15th centuries, the contratenor was a voice part added to the basic two-part contrapuntal texture of discant (superius) and tenor (from the Latin tenere which means to hold, since this part "held" the music's melody, while the superius descanted upon it at a higher pitch). Though having approximately the same range as the tenor, it was generally of a much less melodic nature than either of these other two parts. With the introduction in about 1450 of four-part writing by composers like Ockeghem and Obrecht, the contratenor split into contratenor altus and contratenor bassus, which were respectively above and below the tenor.^[2] Later the term became obsolete: in Italy, contratenor altus became simply altus, in France, haute-contre, and in England, countertenor. Though originally these words were used to designate a vocal part, they are now used to describe singers of that part, whose vocal techniques may differ (see below).^[1]

In the Catholic Church during the Renaissance, St Paul's admonition "mulieres in ecclesiis taceant" ("let the women keep silence in the churches" – I Corinthians 14:34) still prevailed, and so women were banned from singing in church services. Countertenors, though rarely described as such, therefore found a prominent part in liturgical music, whether singing a line alone or with boy trebles or altos; (in Spain there was a long tradition of male falsettists singing soprano lines). However, employment of countertenors never extended to early opera, the rise of which coincided with the arrival of a fashion for castrati, who took, for example, several roles in the first performance of Monteverdi's Orfeo (1607). Castrati were already prominent by this date in Italian church choirs, replacing both falsettists and trebles; the last soprano falsettist singing in Rome, Juan [Johannes de] San[c]tos (a Spaniard), died in 1652.^[4] In Italian opera, by the late seventeenth century, castrati predominated, while in France, the modal high tenor, called the haute-contre,^[5] was established as the voice of choice for leading male roles. In England Purcell wrote significant music for a higher male voice that he called a "counter-tenor", for example, the roles of Secrecy and Summer in The Fairy Queen (1692). "These lines have often challenged modern singers, who have been unsure whether they are high tenor parts or are meant for falsettists".^[6] In Purcell's choral music the situation is further complicated by the occasional appearance of more than one solo part designated "countertenor", but with a considerable difference in range and tessitura. Such is the case in Hail, bright Cecilia (The Ode on St Cecilia's Day 1692) in which the solo "'Tis Nature's Voice" has the range F₃ to B♭₄ (similar to those stage roles cited previously), whereas, in the duet "Hark each tree" the countertenor soloist sings from E₄ to D₅ (in the trio "With that sublime celestial lay". Later in the same work, Purcell's own manuscript designates the same singer, Mr Howel, described as "a High Contra tenor" to perform in the range G₃ to C₄; it is very likely that he took some of the lowest notes in a well-blended "chest voice" – see below).

"The Purcell counter-tenor 'tenor' did not flourish in England much beyond the early years of the [eighteenth] century; within twenty years of Purcell's death Handel had settled in London and opera seria, which was underpinned entirely by Italian singing, soon became entrenched in British theatres".^[6] By Handel's time, castrati had come to dominate the English operatic stage as much as that of Italy (and indeed most of Europe outside France), and also took part in several of his oratorios, though countertenors, too, occasionally featured as soloists in the latter, the parts written for them being closer in compass to the higher ones of Purcell, with a usual range of A₃ to E₅.^[2] They also sang the alto parts in Handel's choruses, and it was as choral singers within the Anglican church tradition (as well as in the secular genre of the glee) that countertenors survived throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. Otherwise they largely faded from public notice.^[1]

The modern countertenor[link]

The most visible icon of the countertenor revival in the twentieth century was Alfred Deller, an English singer and champion of authentic early music performance. Deller initially called himself an "alto", but his collaborator Michael Tippett recommended the archaic term "countertenor" to describe his voice.^[2] In the 1950s and 60s, his group, the Deller Consort, was important in increasing audiences' awareness (and appreciation) of Renaissance and Baroque music. Deller was the first modern countertenor to achieve fame, and has had many prominent successors. Benjamin Britten wrote the leading role of Oberon in his setting of A Midsummer Night's Dream (1960) especially for him; the countertenor role of Apollo in Britten's Death in Venice (1973) was created by James Bowman, the best-known amongst the next generation of English countertenors. Russell Oberlin was Deller's American counterpart, and another early music pioneer. Oberlin's success was entirely unprecedented in a country that had seen little exposure to anything before Bach, and it paved the way for the recent great success of countertenors there also.^[7]

Today, countertenors are much in demand in many forms of classical music. In opera, many roles originally written for castrati are now sung and recorded by countertenors, as are some trouser roles originally written for female singers. The former category is much more numerous, and includes Orfeo in Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice and many Handel roles, such as the name parts in Giulio Cesare and Orlando, and Bertarido in Rodelinda.^[1] This is also the case in several of Mozart's early operas, including Amintas in Il Re Pastore and Cecilio in Lucio Silla. Many modern composers other than Britten have written, and continue to write, countertenor parts, both in choral works and opera, as well as songs and song-cycles for the voice. Men's choral groups such as Chanticleer and the King's Singers employ the voice to great effect in a variety of genres, including early music, gospel, and even folk songs. Other recent operatic parts written for the countertenor voice include Edgar in Aribert Reimann's Lear (1978), the title role in Philip Glass's Akhnaten (1983), Claire in John Lunn's The Maids (1998), the Refugee in Jonathan Dove's Flight (1999), and Trinculo in Thomas Adès's The Tempest (2004).^[2]

The countertenor voice[link]

A trained countertenor will typically have a vocal center similar in placement to that of a contralto or mezzo-soprano.^[8] Peter Giles, a professional countertenor and noted author on the subject, defines the countertenor as a musical part rather than as a vocal style or mechanism. In modern usage, the term "countertenor" is essentially equivalent to the medieval term contratenor altus (see above). In this way, a countertenor singer can be operationally defined as a man who sings the countertenor part, whatever vocal style or mechanism is employed.^[7] The countertenor range is generally equivalent to an alto range, extending from approximately G₃ or A₃ to E₅ or perhaps G₅. In actual practice, it is generally acknowledged that a majority of countertenors sing with a falsetto vocal production for at least the upper half of this range, although most use some form of "chest voice" (akin to the range of their speaking voice) for the lower notes. The most difficult challenge for such a singer is managing the lower middle range, for there are normally a few notes (around B♭₃) that can be sung with either vocal mechanism, and the transition between registers must somehow be blended or smoothly managed.^[7]

In response to the (in his view) pejorative connotation of the term falsetto, Giles refuses to use it, calling the upper register "head voice."^[7] Many voice experts would disagree with this choice of terminology, reserving the designation "head voice" for the high damped register accompanied by a relatively low larynx that is typical of modern high operatic tenor voice production. The latter type of head voice is, in terms of the vocal cord vibration, actually more similar to "chest voice" than to falsetto, since it uses the same "speaking voice" production (referred to as "modal" by voice scientists), and this is reflected in the timbre.^[8]

The term "Irish tenor" is a common synonym for a countertenor made popular in the mid 19th century. Irish immigrants arriving in the U.S. between the Irish Potato Famine and the period just after the American Civil War brought with them a variety of vocal styles and folk songs, all sung in the countertenor range. Many traditional Irish songs were turned into popular American folk songs in the process. A contemporary musical group "The Irish Tenors" capitalizes on these musical contributions, but many other historical and current performers may be correctly referred to as Irish tenors.

Controversy over the terms male soprano, male alto, and countertenor[link]

Particularly in the British choral tradition, the terms male soprano and male alto serve to identify men who rely on falsetto vocal production, rather than the modal voice, to sing in the soprano or alto vocal range. Elsewhere, the terms have less universal currency. Some authorities do accept them as descriptive of male falsettists, although this view is subject to controversy;^[9] they would reserve the term "countertenor" for men who, like Russell Oberlin, achieve a soprano range voice with little or no falsetto, equating it with haute-contre and the Italian tenor altino.^[10] Adherents to this view maintain that a countertenor will have unusually short vocal cords^[1] and consequently a higher speaking voice and lower range and tessitura than their falsettist counterparts, perhaps from D₃ to D₅. Operatic vocal classification, on the other hand, prefers the terms "countertenor" and "sopranist" to "male soprano" and "male alto," and some scholars consider the latter two terms inaccurate owing to physiological differences between male and female vocal production.^[11] The sole known man who can claim to be a true male soprano by that definition is Michael Maniaci, whose modal voice falls in the soprano range, like a woman's, because his larynx never fully developed during puberty.^[12]

Repertoire[link]

Today, much of the repertoire sung by a countertenor was originally written for a castrato. Some of the most notable countertenor roles include :

Operatic Roles[link]

Famous Arias[link]

See also[link]

• Category:Operatic countertenors

References[link]

External links[link]

• Yuriy Minenko performs Purcell, A.Scarlatti, Vivaldi

Further reading[link]

• Appelman, D. Ralph (1986). The Science of Vocal Pedagogy: Theory and Application. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-20378-6. 
• Boldrey, Richard (1994). Guide to Operatic Roles and Arias. Caldwell Publishing Company. ISBN 978-1-877761-64-5. 
• Giles, Peter (1982). The Countertenor. Muller Publishing Co.. 
• Giles, Peter (2005). A Basic Countertenor Method. Kahn & Averill Publishers. ISBN 978-1-871082-82-1. 
• Howell, Ian. "Countertenor Technique: An Introduction to Concepts". The Countertenor Voice (Apr 2011). http://blog.counterpointspublishing.com/2011/04/countertenor-technique-an-introduction-to-concepts/. 
• Howell, Ian. "Vocal Technique: The Flex". The Countertenor Voice (July 2011). http://blog.counterpointspublishing.com/2011/07/vocal-technique-the-flex//. 
• Howell, Ian. "Are We Post-Anglican Yet?". The Countertenor Voice (Jan 2011). http://blog.counterpointspublishing.com/2011/01/feature-are-we-post-anglican-yet-part-1///. 
• Hennen, Peter. "Nature's Way: Vocal Production in Social Context". The Countertenor Voice (Feb 2011). http://blog.counterpointspublishing.com/2011/02/feature-%E2%80%93-nature%E2%80%99s-way-normal-vocal-production-in-social-context////. 
• Smith, Brenda (2005). Choral Pedagogy. Plural Publishing, Inc. ISBN 978-1-59756-043-6. 
• Stark, James (2003). Bel Canto: A History of Vocal Pedagogy. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-0-8020-8614-3. 
• Mormile, Alessandro, "Controtenori. La rinascita dei 'nuovi angeli' nella prassi esecutiva dell'opera barocca", Varese, Zecchini Editore, 2010, 88-6540-000-5, pagg. 218

Philippe Jaroussky
Philippe Jaroussky, 2011 Misteria Paschalia Festival, Kraków Philharmonic
Born	Philippe Jaroussky (1978-02-13) February 13, 1978 (age 34) Maisons-Laffitte, France
Occupation	opera singer
Years active	1999–present
Website
www.philippejaroussky.fr

Philippe Jaroussky (born 13 February 1978 in Maisons-Laffitte, France)^[1] is a French sopranist countertenor. He began his musical career with the violin, winning an award at the Versailles conservatory and then took up the piano before turning to singing. He is noted for a virtuosic coloratura technique and for compelling and enlivened interpretations of baroque cantatas and operas.

Jaroussky was inspired to sing by the Martinique-born countertenor Fabrice di Falco.^[2] He received his diploma from the Early Music Faculty of the Conservatoire de Paris. Since 1996, he has studied singing with Nicole Fallien.^[3] He has formed his own ensemble called Artaserse, and also often performs with the Ensemble Matheus under Jean-Christophe Spinosi and with L'Arpeggiata under Christina Pluhar.

Reception and awards[link]

According to La Terrasse, "this young singer with the tone of an angel and the virtuosity of the devil has come into the limelight in only a few years as the great new French vocal talent."^{[citation needed]} He received the 2007 best French lyrical artist award. Jaroussky was awarded "The Best Singer of the Year" at the Echo Classic Awards, 2008.

Discography[link]

• Alessandro Scarlatti: Sedecia, Re di Gerusalemme. Lesne, Pochon, Harvey, Padmore. Il Seminario Musicale, Gérard Lesne. Virgin Veritas (rec. November 1999, École Sainte-Geneviève, Versailles, France)
• Claudio Monteverdi: L'incoronazione di Poppea. Laurens, Oliver, Schofrin, Oro. Ensemble Elyma, Gabriel Garrido. K617 (rec. July/August 2000, Chiesa San Martino, Erice, Italy)
• Pierre Menault: Vêpres pour le Pére la Chaize. Greuillet, Janssens, Lombard, van Dyck. Ensemble La Fenice, Jean Tubéry. K617 (rec. April 2001, chiesa Saint-Lazare, Avallon, France)
• Giovanni Battista Bassani: La morte delusa. Galli, del Monaco, Piolino, Sarragosse. Ensemble La Fenice, Jean Tubéry. Opus 111 (rec. August 2001, Delft, Nederland)
• Antonio Vivaldi: Catone in Utica. Edwards, Laszczkowski, Cangemi, Faraon. La Grande Écurie, Jean-Claude Malgoire. Dynamic (rec. November 2001, Théâtre Municipal, Tourcoing, France)
• Antonio Vivaldi: La Verità in cimento. Rolfe-Johnson, Stutzmann, Laurens, Mingardo. Ensemble Matheus, Jean-Christophe Spinosi. Naïve – Opus 111 (rec. September 2002, Église de Daoulas, Bretagne, France)
• Solo recital: Benedetto Ferrari: Musiche varie. Ensemble Artaserse. Ambroisie (rec. October/December 2002, Chapelle Jésus-Enfant – Paroisse Ste. Clothilde, Paris, France)
• George Frideric Handel: Agrippina. Gens, Perruche, Smith, Grégoire, di Falco. La Grande Écurie, Jean-Claude Malgoire. Dynamic (rec. March 2003, Théâtre Municipal, Tourcoing, France)
• Solo recital: Un concert pour Mazarin. Ensemble La Fenice, Jean Tubéry. Virgin Classics, 2004 (rec. June 2003, Abbaye de Saint-Michel, Thiérache, France)
• Claudio Monteverdi: Selva morale e spirituale. Spiritualità e liturgia / I salmi vespertini / Vespro dei Martiri / L'eloquenza divina. Ensemble Elyma, Gabriel Garrido. Ambronay Edition (rec. 2003/2004, Festival d'Ambronay, France)
• Antonio Vivaldi: Orlando furioso. Larmore, Lemieux, Cangemi. Ensemble Matheus, Jean-Christophe Spinosi. Naïve – Opus 111 (rec. June 2004, Église de Daoulas, Bretagne, France)
• Claudio Monteverdi: L'Orfeo. van Rensburg, Gerstenhaber, Thébault, Gerstenhaber, Gillot, Kaïque. La Grande Écurie, Jean-Claude Malgoire. Dynamic (rec. October 2004, Théâtre Municipal, Tourcoing, France)
• Solo recital: Antonio Vivaldi: Virtuoso cantatas. Ensemble Artaserse. Virgin Veritas (rec. October 2004, Chapelle des sœurs auxiliaires, Versailles, France)
• Antonio Vivaldi: Griselda. Lemieux, Cangemi, Kermes, Ferrari, Davies. Ensemble Matheus, Jean-Christophe Spinosi. Naïve – Opus 111 (rec. November 2005, Salle Surcouf, Foyer du Marin, Brest, France)
• Solo recital: Beata Vergine, Motets à la Vierge entre Rome et Venise, Grandi, Legrenzi, Cavalli, Antonio Rigatti, Giovanni Paolo Caprioli, Frescobaldi, Sances, Ensemble Artaserse. Virgin Classics (rec. December 2005, Église Notre-Dame du Liban, Parigi, France)
• Solo recital: Vivaldi Heroes. Ensemble Matheus, Jean-Christophe Spinosi. Virgin Classics (rec. October 2006, Auditorium de l'Ecole Nationale de Musique, Brest, France)
• Solo recital: Carestini, the story of a castrato. Le Concert d'Astrée, Emmanuelle Haïm. Virgin Classics, 2007
• J. S. Bach: Magnificat – G. F. Handel: Dixit Dominus. Dessay, Deshayes, Spence, Naouri. Le Concert d'Astrée, Emmanuelle Haïm. Virgin Classics, 2007
• Antonio Vivaldi: Nisi Dominus and Stabat Mater. Philippe Jaroussky, Lemieux. Ensemble Matheus, Jean-Christophe Spinosi. Naïve (rec. July 2007, Salle Surcouf, Brest (France))
• Solo recital: Opium – Mélodies françaises. Philippe Jaroussky, Jerôme Ducros. Virgin Classics, 2009. – songs by Debussy, Hahn, Fauré, César Franck, Massenet, Ernest Chausson, André Caplet, Saint-Saëns, Paul Dukas, Guillaume Lekeu, Cécile Chaminade, Gabriel Dupont, Vincent d'Indy.
• Via Crucis. Claudio Monteverdi, Benedetto Ferrari, Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, Giovanni Legrenzi, Luigi Rossi, Tarquinio Merula, L'Arpeggiata, dir. Christina Pluhar, Philippe Jaroussky, Nuria Rial, Enzo Gragnaniello, Barbara Furtuna. Jean-Philippe Guissani, Giovanni Antonio, Pandolfi Mealli, Roccu Mambrini, Toni Casalonga, Nando Acquaviva, Lorenzo Allegri, Virgin Classics, 2010.
• Solo recital: J. C. Bach Opera arias. Le Cercle de l'Harmonie, dir. Jérémie Rhorer Virgin. – awarded the Diapason d'Or de l'Année 2010 in France.
• Solo recital: Caldara in Vienna (Forgotten Castrato Arias) Philippe Jaroussky / Concerto Köln, Emmanuelle Haïm
• Vivaldi Ercole sul Termodonte Diana Damrau, Vivica Genaux, Romina Basso, Patrizia Ciofi, Joyce DiDonato, Rolando Villazón, Philippe Jaroussky, Topi Lehtipuu, dir. Fabio Biondi, Europa Galante, Virgin Classics. 2011

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Philippe Jaroussky

• Concerts Parisiens
• Philippe Jaroussky International Forum
• Performance of aria "Vedrò con mio diletto" (Vivaldi, "Il Giustino") on YouTube
• Philippe Jaroussky recordings on Virgin Classics
• Philippe Jaroussky videos on MaleSopranos.com
• New York Times Sunday Magazine profile
• Official website (French)

Ian Lester Howell (born May 20, 1958 in Port Elizabeth, Cape Province, South Africa) is a South African cricket umpire. As a player he played first-class cricket for Border and Eastern Province in South Africa. A left-hand batsman and a left-arm medium bowler he played 119 first-class games scoring 3767 runs with 5 hundreds and 13 fifties and a batting average of 26.90. His top score was 115 not out. He took 243 first-class wickets with 5 five-wicket hauls with a best of 6/38 and a bowling average of 35.74.^[1]

International Umpiring Career[link]

Howell has been a member of the International Cricket Council's panel of International Umpires since 2002. He is eligible to officiate in ODI's in South Africa as the home umpire, and as the TV umpire in Test matches. In December 2006 he replaced Mark Benson on-field during a Test match in Centurion when Benson was taken to hospital with heart palpitations, making him the first person to umpire in a Test match in his native country since the introduction of the Elite Panel of umpires in 2002. Howell is also regularly appointed by the ICC to stand in Test matches and ODI's away from South Africa to support the ICC Elite umpire panel at busy times in the cricket calendar. Howell was also appointed to the group stage of the 2007 Cricket World Cup in the West Indies, and officiated in the inaugural Twenty20 World Championship which took place in his native South Africa.

Umpiring Statistics[link]

References[link]

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Alfred George Deller CBE (31 May 1912 – 16 July 1979), was an English singer and one of the main figures in popularizing the return of the countertenor voice in Renaissance and Baroque music during the 20th Century.

Deller was an influential figure in the renaissance of early music: an early proponent of original instrument performance and one of the first to bring this form to the popular consciousness through his broadcasts on the BBC, he also founded the Stour Music Festival, one of the first and most important early music festivals in the world. His style in singing lute song, with extensive use of rubato and extemporised ornamentation, was seen as radical and controversial in his day but is now considered the norm.

Life and career[link]

Deller was born in Margate, a seaside resort in Kent. As a boy, he sang in his local church choir. When his voice broke, he continued singing in his high register, eventually settling as a countertenor. Throughout the 19th century, it was only in the tradition of all-male cathedral choirs that the countertenor voice had survived.^[1] Deller was himself successively a member of the choirs of Canterbury and St. Paul's Cathedrals (1940–47 and 1947–62, respectively). He emerged as a soloist from this choral tradition, largely as a result of the admiration of the composer Michael Tippett, who heard him while at Canterbury and recognized the unique beauty of his voice. Tippett introduced him to the public as a countertenor, rather than a male alto. He also became better known with a radio broadcast (on the BBC's new "Third Programme") of Henry Purcell's Come ye Sons of Art. He concentrated on popularizing and recording the music of English Baroque and Renaissance music by composers such as John Dowland and Purcell.^[2]

Deller's voice sounded remarkably high. Misconceptions about the countertenor voice were common at the time Deller was first gaining significant notice as a singer, which was only a matter of decades after the last castrati had died; Michael Chance tells the story that once, a French woman, upon hearing Deller sing, exclaimed "Monsieur, vous êtes eunuque"—to which Deller replied, "I think you mean 'unique,' madam."^[3]

He formed the Deller Consort in 1948, a group dedicated to historically informed performance. The group significantly expanded popular notions of the Baroque repertoire, producing high-quality authentic "period performances" of the works of Bach, Handel, Purcell, Dowland, and even folk songs; the membership of the consort changed over the years. It included various baritones and tenors, sopranos April Cantelo and Mary Thomas, and, from 1964, Deller's son, Mark Deller[1]. (Alfred Deller's other son, Simon, trained as a music teacher during the 1960s.) In 1972, The Deller Consort performed for the Peabody Mason Concert series in Boston.^[4] As well as directing the Consort, Deller also conducted some performances with chamber orchestras.

In 1960, Deller sang the role of Oberon in Benjamin Britten's opera A Midsummer Night's Dream. Britten wrote this role with Deller specifically in mind, although he was dropped from staged revivals of the work against the composer's wishes, probably because of poor acting technique.^[2] He did record the opera, with the composer conducting.

Lutenist Desmond Dupré performed with him, initially as a guitarist; other accompanists included harpsichordist and musicologist Walter Bergmann. In later years, he worked with lutenist Robert Spencer and harpsichordists Harold Lester and William Christie. His recordings include the lute songs of Dowland, operas by Handel, Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream, songs and semioperas by Purcell (such as The Fairy Queen), traditional English folk songs, works by Thomas Tallis, and the Bach alto repertoire. He recorded for HMV, Vanguard Classics, and Harmonia Mundi.

Deller died whilst on holiday in Bologna, Italy.

Notes[link]

References[link]

• J.B. Steane: "Deller, Alfred," Grove Music Online ed L. Macy (Accessed 6 February 2007), grovemusic.com, subscription access.
• Peter Giles and J.B. Steane: "Countertenor," Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (accessed 6 February 2007), grovemusic.com (subscription access).

External links[link]

• Alfred Deller (1912–1979) - A discography (Early Music FAQ)

José Lemos (born 22 November 1974) is a Brazilian countertenor.

Life and career[link]

José Lemos was born in Bagé, Brazil. ^[1] He completed his Masters Degree at the New England Conservatory in Boston, and has appeared in opera roles and in concert with companies such as Boston Baroque, Boston Cecilia, Harvard Early Music Society, Les Parlement de Musique, Piccolo Spoleto Festival Early Music Series, and the Aldeburgh Snape Proms in England.

In the summer of 2003, he made his USA opera debut at The Tanglewood Music Festival in Robert Zuidam's Rage D'Amours, and returned for their 2004 production of Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream as Oberon. He has also joined the Tanglewood Music Center in the Los Angeles premiere of the opera Ainadamar by composer Osvaldo Golijov at the new Disney Center with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

In April 2005 he made his European opera debut in a production of the Zürich Opera House of Handel's Giulio Cesare under the batton of Marc Minkowski. In June of the same year he performed at the Aldeburgh Festival in a production of Purcell's Fairy-Queen under the batton of Harry Bicket, receiving excellent reviews by The Times. He has made frequent appearances in places such as Jordan Hall, Chimay Theater, Ozawa Hall, Tanglewood Theater, The Cloisters Museum in New York, and the National Gallery in Washington, D.C.^[2]

Awards[link]

Lemos was the First Prize winner and the Audience Prize winner of the 2003 International Baroque Singing Competition of Chimay, Belgium.

Associated acts[link]

• The Baltimore Consort
• Brio
• Charleston Pro Musica

Discography[link]

• Adio España: Romances, Villancicos & Improvisations from Spain, Circa 1500 (2009)
• Jean-Baptiste Lully: Psyché (2008)
• Romance (with Brio, 2008)
• Stefano Landi: Il Sant' Alessio (2008)

External links[link]

• José Lemos' website
• Brio - Jose Lemos, Countertenor, sings Durme durme

References[link]