Lawrence Jones, tenor, is quickly establishing an active presence on the concert and operatic stages. Recently he has received praise for his portrayals of Tom Rakewell in Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress at both the Princeton Festival and Aldeburgh Festival (UK). Following the Princeton Festival production this past June, the New York Times wrote that he "… brought a light, sweet voice and lyricism to Tom." Opera News praised his portrayal for being "fully fleshed out and tenderhearted" and "gripping." Last season, Mr. Jones made company debuts with New York City Opera in performances of Oliver Knussen's Where the Wild Things Are, as well as with the Utah Symphony as tenor soloist in Stravinsky's Pulcinella. Mr. Jones returns to New York City Opera this upcoming season to cover the roles of Gastone in La Traviata and Eurimedes in Telemann's Orpheus. Mr. Jones has sung as a soloist with numerous opera companies, choruses, and orchestras, which include Sarasota Opera, Boston Baroque, Toledo Opera, Tanglewood Music Festival, Bach Society of St. Louis, Opera Saratoga, The Boston Pops, Opera North, Albany Symphony, and Charlotte Symphony. Most recently he sang the tenor arias in Bach's St. John Passion at New York City's renowned Saint Thomas Church. He will reprise the tenor solos at the Kalamazoo Bach Festival later this season.
To mark Good Friday, the Boston Modern Orchestra Project brought together two contemporary Passion settings: David Lang's "The Little Match Girl Passion" and Arvo Pärt's "Passio Domini Nostri Jesu Christi secundum Joannem."
It did not look much like a BMOP concert – only a few instrumentalists were present. But it was an appropriately grave lineup for the darkest day of the Christian calendar.