Jonathan Lemalu

Jonathan Lemalu is a New Zealand-born Samoan, brought up in the southern city of Dunedin. Educated in Dunedin, Jonathan studied both Law and Music at the University of Otago, graduating with a Bachelor of Laws in 1999. He completed three years study at the Royal College of Music (RCM) in July 2002, taking with him the College’s highly esteemed gold medal. In his first year he completed a postgraduate certificate then gained a place on the two year RCM London Royal Schools Opera Course, now known as the RCM Benjamin Britten International Opera School.

As one of the winners of the renowned Kathleen Ferrier Award 2002 he was awarded Young Artist of the Year 2002 by the London Royal Philharmonic Society. A powerful, warm and captivating bass baritone, Jonathan Lemalu is now one of the most sought-after talents on the international concert, operatic and recital circuit.

Accompanied by pianist Roger Vignoles, his first CD with songs by Brahms, Faure, Finzi, and Schubert (2002), was winning the prestigious Gramophone award for Best Debut Recording at the 2002 awards. Jonathan has since been signed exclusively to the main EMI Classics label and released his first major EMI recording in 2005 - a selection of popular opera arias.

Jonathan Lemalu sang at the Tanglewood Festival with the Boston Symphony Orchestra (Mozart Requiem), at the Ravinia Festival with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (Beethoven's Symphony No. 9) under James Conlon, at the Edinburgh Festival with Les Troyens under Donald Runnicles, and in Maria Stuarda and Jephtha under Sir Charles Mackerras. He appeared at the BBC Proms with an opera aria programme and with Mahler's Des Knaben Wunderhorn. Furthermore he sang Mendelssohn's Elias with the Nederlands Philharmonisch Orkest, Mozart Arias with the Camerata Salzburg, Handel's Messiah with the New York Philharmonic, La damnation de Faust and Peter Grimes with the London Symphony Orchestra under Sir Colin Davis in London and New York and La damnation de Faust with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Charles Dutoit. He was part of the first performance of John Harbinson's Requiem with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Bernard Haitink in Boston and New York.

As lied singer he was touring through many European and North American cities (Cologne, Athens, Birmingham, Amsterdam, Salzburg, Brussels, Baden-Baden, Vienna, Montreal, Vancouver, Atlanta, San Francisco, Washington), as well as in the Carnegie Hall New York, the Wigmore Hall London and at the festivals Edinburgh and Munich.

At the opera stage Jonathan Lemalu sang the roles of Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro) and Don Basilio (Il barbiere di Siviglia) at the English National Opera, Papageno at the Glyndebourne Festival and Zoroastro (Orlando) and Colline (La Bohème) at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden. In Germany he appeared as Saul, Figaro, Argante (Rinaldo) and Leporello (Bayerische Staatsoper, Hamburgische Staatsoper). Furthermore he sang Rodomonte in a new production of Orlando paladino under Nikolaus Harnoncourt, and Papageno at the Theater an der Wien. In Australia he was Leporello and Figaro again; in the USA he gave his debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Masetto, and at the Lyric Opera in Chicago as Papageno.

Future engagements are including La damnation de Faust with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, John Adams’ The Flowering Tree with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Elias with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and Orlando paladino with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.