LaurenceKilsby

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  • Tenor

About Laurence

“A young singer to watch” (The Times), British tenor Laurence Kilsby is rapidly gaining international recognition for his vivid stage presence, expressive musicianship, and wide-ranging repertoire.

In the 2025/26 season, Laurence makes his Glyndebourne Festival debut as the Novice in Billy Budd, sings Lurcanio in Ariodante at Opéra de Versailles, and returns to the BBC Proms with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Sakari Oramo. He performs the Matthäus-Passion with the Concertgebouworkest and Klaus Mäkelä, tours the UK with Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings alongside Sinfonia of London and John Wilson, and makes his US concert debut with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s in Beethoven Symphony No. 9 conducted by Raphaël Pichon.

Continuing his regular collaboration with Pichon and Ensemble Pygmalion, Laurence joins them for a tour of the Matthäus-Passion and performances at the Adelaide Festival. He also tours Handel’s Theodora with Jupiter Ensemble, and appears in recital with pianist Ella O’Neill at both Madrid’s Fundación Juan March and the Théâtre de l’Athénée in Paris. His debut album with O’Neill, AWAKENINGS, was released last season. 

Recent highlights include appearances at the Opéra national de Paris, Opéra national du Rhin, Opéra Comique, and the Aix-en-Provence and Innsbruck Early Music Festivals, as well as performances with the Rotterdam Philharmonic, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, and RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra. 

A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and ABRSM Vocal Scholar at the Royal College of Music, Laurence was a member of the Opéra national de Paris studio in 2022/23. He won First Prize at both the Wigmore Hall / Bollinger International Song Competition (2022) and the Cesti Competition (Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik), and was earlier awarded the Kathleen Ferrier Society Bursary for Young Singers.

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Contact

Keiron Cooke

Keiron Cooke

Associate Director
Will Pate

Will Pate

Associate Artist Manager

Representation

Worldwide general management with Askonas Holt

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Season Highlights

Jun 2025 - Aug 2025
Glyndebourne Festival Opera
BRITTEN Billy Budd (Novice)
Sep 2025 - Oct 2025
Jupiter Ensemble / Thomas Dunford
HANDEL Theodora (Septimius)
Oct 2025 - Oct 2025
Sinfonia of London / John Wilson
BRITTEN Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings
Nov 2025 - Nov 2025
Orchestra of St Luke's / Raphael Pichon
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 9
Nov 2025 - Dec 2025
Opera de Versailles
HANDEL Ariodante (Lurcanio)
Feb 2026 - Mar 2026
Ensemble Pygmalion / Raphael Pichon
BACH Matthaus Passion (Arias)
Mar 2026 - Mar 2026
Gabrieli Consort and Players / Paul McCreesh
HANDEL Acis & Galatea (Acis)
Mar 2026 - Mar 2026
Concertgebouworkest / Klaus Mäkelä
BACH Matthaus Passion (Arias)

Video

Photos

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2024 Colour

Selected Repertoire

Britten

A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Lysander)   •   The Rape of Lucretia (Male chorus)

Debussy

Pelléas et Mélisande (Pelléas)

Donizetti

L’elisir d’Amore (Nemorino)

Gluck

Iphigénie en Tauride (Pylades)

Monteverdi

L’incoronazione di Poppea (Lucano/Soldato Primo)   •   L’Orfeo (Orfeo/Apollo/Pastore/Spirito)

Mozart

Così fan tutte (Ferrando)   •   Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Belmonte)   •   Die Zauberflöte (Tamino)   •   Don Giovanni (Don Ottavio)   •   La finta giardiniera (Il Conte Belfiore)

Purcell

Dido & Aeneas (Sailor)   •   The Fairy Queen (various roles)

Rossini

Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Conte Almaviva)   •   La Cenerentola (Don Ramiro)   •   La Scala di Seta (Dorvil)

Strauss

Ariadne auf Naxos (Scaramuccio)

Stravinsky

Pulcinella   •   The Rake’s Progress (Tom Rakewell)

Vivaldi

La fida ninfa (Narete)

Weill

Street Scene (Sam Kaplan)

Sample Programmes

  • “All things truly wicked start from innocence.” — Ernest Hemingway

    A programme centred around themes of naivety, betrayal, lust and corruption Brahms: Unbewegte laue luft, op. 57, no. 8 Saint-Saëns: La coccinelle Wolf: Mörike Lieder - II. Der Knabe und das Immlein Schönberg: Brettl-Lieder - 5. Mahnung - 6. Galathea Stenhammar: Flickan kom ifrån sin älsklings mote Clarke: The Seal Man Wolf: Nimmersatte Liebe Prokofiev: Trust me, op. 23, no. 3 Wood: Wild Cyclamen, op. 49 - 9. Horizon Heggie: Eve-Song - 3. Snake Weill:: Complainte de la Seine Schönberg: Vier Lieder, op. 2 - II. Schenk mir deinen goldenen Kamm Britten: Fish in the unruffled lakes Britten: Canticle I: My beloved is mine Clarke: The Tiger Heggie; Natural Selection - 2. Animal Passion

News

Press

  • Rameau's Samson

    Opéra Comique
    Mar 2025 - Mar 2025

    • La haute-contre Laurence Kilsby chante avec aisance et éclat, y compris des parties de dessus (Érynice).

  • Rameau's Castor et Pollux

    Opéra Comique
    Jan 2025 - Feb 2025

    • Young Laurence Kilsby...was spellbinding from the very first note of his opening monologue as Amour.

    • Perhaps one of the greatest surprises of the night was Laurence Kilsby...there is a sense of freshness in his sustained notes that was unmatched by any other singer of the male cast.

  • Rameau's Samson

    Festival d'Aix-en-Provence
    Jul 2024 - Jul 2024

    • Si vous ne le connaissez pas déjà, retenez le nom du ténor britannique Laurence Kilsby. La force de son engagement est à la hauteur de la splendeur de son timbre.

    • Laurence Kilsby incarne lui aussi un personnage créé de toute pièce, Elon, un ami de Samson révolté par la violence de ses actions, qui passe du côté des Philistins. Le personnage est secondaire, mais l’interprétation électrique du ténor le place au devant de la scène et marque profondément.

    • L’Elon du ténor Laurence Kilsby est véhément, électrique, tout en énergie du désespoir, vocalement et physiquement. Sa colère dévorante est faite d’aigus éruptifs, rapidement vibrés, déclamant des maximes bien claironnées.

    • …le ténor Laurence Kilsby au charme discret campe un Elon plein de finesse…

    • … and the strikingly mellifluous tenor of Laurence Kilsby as the ultimately doomed traitor Elon offered equally fine character studies in voice and gesture.

    • Laurence Kilsby è invece uno dei pochi che può davvero convincere in una parte da haute-contre come quella disegnata per Elon, con la sua distintiva forza nel registro acuto (peccato solo per il ruolo piuttosto contenuto che gli viene assegnato), e appare eroico e deciso in un numero tratto da Zoroastre in cui va anche salutata l'abilità del cornista protagonista di un non facile obbligato.

    • Laurence Kilsby est un Elon à la voix claire et projetée. Son timbre de ténor peut monter jusqu'à la stridence dans une colère exacerbée aux rythmes marqués.

  • Schubert L'autre voyage

    Opera Comique
    Feb 2024

    • À ses côtés, le ténor Laurence Kilsby qui offre une nuance délicate à son chant.

    • le ténor Laurence Kilsby, tout en finesse, et le grandiose Stéphane Degout, en majesté, tout simplement bouleversant. [translated] the tenor Laurence Kilsby, full of finesse, and the grandiose Stéphane Degout, in majesty, quite simply overwhelming.

  • Berlioz Les Troyens

    Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra / BBC Proms
    Sep 2023

    • From the strong ensemble cast, the tenor Laurence Kilsby (Iopas/Hylas) sang his two arias with poetic ardour.

    • …the sweet tenor of young Laurence Kilsby gilded the special moments of both Iopas and Hylas.

    • …and Laurence Kilsby, who sang the arias of Iopas and Hylas exquisitely.

    • Laurence Kilsby fluted the poetic solos of Iopas and Hylas subtly with his high, light tenor.

    • — other standouts included mezzo-soprano Beth Taylor as Dido’s fun gossipy sister Anna, and tenor Laurence Kilsby who managed to make the entire hall go quiet as he sang to the Carthaginian court.

  • Monteverdi I L'incoronazione di Poppea

    Festival d’Aix-en-Provence
    Aug 2022

    • Tenor Laurence Kilsby made a very good impression in the role of Nerone’s poet Lucano. His centerpiece was to take part in a drunken revelry which gave rise to the more debauched activities, such as mocking Seneca’s corpse by using it as what appeared to be a ventriloquist’s dummy, for which he displayed good acting skills. He also successfully essayed the roles of Tribuno, Saldato I and Famigliare II.

    • Laurence Kilsby, toujours excellent dans son quatuor de rôles (Lucano/Soldato I/Famigliare II/Tribuno) détient une suavité d’émission et de couleur qui rappelle les accents propres au chant sacré, alors même qu’il se plie à une séance de jeu sexuel à trois avec Néron et Poppée. Le corps chante également sous la caresse voisée de ses partenaires

    • Laurence Kilsby, Riccardo Romeo et Yannis François complètent avec charme et bonheur cette distribution hors pair au service d’un Couronnement de Poppée, auquel il est difficile d’apporter le moindre bémol. C’est, assurément, l’un des temps forts, voire « le » temps fort, de l’édition 2022 du Festival d’Aix-en-Provence.

  • Bach Johannes-Passion

    Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment/Mark Padmore
    Mar 2022

    • The evening’s discovery for me was young tenor Laurence Kilsby, who made every detail tell in his anguished aria contemplating the tormented body of Chris

    • The soloists, however, were a strong team who punched through the narrative. The mezzo Paula Murrihy’s Es ist vollbracht was searing, and Mary Bevan’s dewy soprano sparkled. There were also two young singers to watch. I prefer a weightier JC than Steffani’s Jesus offered, but the baritone has beautifully rounded tone. And the tenor Laurence Kilsby shaped an especially elegant and affecting Erwäge wie sein blutgefärbter.

    • Laurence Kilsby sang his three tenor arias from memory and with enormous composure, making much of the text. The striking opening appeal, “Consider”, and extended vocal phrases of ‘Erwäge, wie sein blutgefärbter Rücken’ were executed with masterful control of breath and tone, and Kilsby’s fine structuring of the whole was complemented by shapely violin playing from Margaret Faultless and Rodolfo Richter

    • Laurence Kilsby’s tenor voice must be one of the most ingratiating of his generation, and it was good to hear the rhythms of “Ach mein Sinn” (“Alas my conscience”) lifted rather than smoothed out. His “Erwäge, wie sein blutgefärbter Rücken” (“Consider how his blood-stained back”) was vocally enthralling throughout its unusual length.

  • Sondheim A Little Night Music

    Opera North
    Jul 2021

    • [Henrik] is played by talented newcomer to the stage, tenor Laurence Kilsby, who delivers religious rants convincingly, never quite going over the top.

    • Henrik Egerman is, to a certain extent, a thankless role, constantly moping and with a killer opening number. Laurence Kilsby gave a dramatic account of this opening number, and throughout made Henrik dramatically interesting as well as finely sung.

    • Laurence Kilsby’s mix of priggishness and sexual torment as Henrik is horribly convincing…

Discography