Canadian tenor Josh Lovell, whose voice has been described by the The Guardian as “a handsome sounding tenor with a warm, liquid voice and easy high notes” is quickly gaining notoriety in the world’s most prestigious houses. An incredibly versatile artist, Mr. Lovell’s repertoire spans the Baroque to Romantic periods, as well as modern works of the 20th Century. In the 2023-24 season, Mr. Lovell will sing Ferrando in Così fan tutte with Opéra national de Paris, Count Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Bayerische Staatsoper, the Italian Singer in Capriccio with the Christian Thielemann at the Salzburg Festival, Medoro in Orlando Paladino with Giovanni Antonini at the Teatro Real and Gran Teatre del Liceu, Ernesto in Don Pasquale with Vancouver Opera, and Jacquino in Fidelio with the Canadian Opera Company. In concert, Mr. Lovell will make debuts at the Royal Concertgebouw singing in Rossini’s Petite messe solonnelle with the Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Opéra royal de Versailles for Cimarosa’s L’Olimpiade with Les Talens Lyriques and Christophe Rousset, and performances of Handel’s Il trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno, and L’Olimpiade both at Theater an der Wien. L’Olimpiade will later be released on disc with the Château de Versailles Spectacles recording label. Finally, he will sing Handel’s Messiah with the North Carolina Symphony.
In the 2022-23 season, Mr. Lovell made house and role debuts at the Teatro alla Scala as Ferdinand in Thomas Adès’ The Tempest, Oper Leipzig as Don Ottavio in a new production of Don Giovanni, the Deutsche Oper Berlin as Gérald in Lakmé at the Berlin Philharmonie, and Don Gomez de Féria in Saint-Saëns Henry VIII. He also made his debut with Opera Rara and the London Philharmonic as Prince Casimir in a recording and performance of Offenbach’s La Princesse de Trébizonde, and returned to the Wiener Staatsoper for guest performances as Telemachus in a new production of Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, Lukas in Die Jahreszeiten, and as Ernesto in Don Pasquale.
A former member of the Wiener Staatsoper ensemble, Lovell’s performed roles include Ernesto, Don Ottavio, Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola, Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore, Fenton in Falstaff, Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the Italian Singer in Der Rosenkavalier, Ruodi in Guillaume Tell, Lurcanio in Ariodante, Andres in Wozzeck, Noboru in Henze’s Das verratene meer, and Lukas in a staged ballet version of Haydn’s Die Jahreszeiten.
Outside of Vienna, Mr. Lovell recently made debuts at the Glyndebourne Festival as Ernesto in Don Pasquale, the Bolshoi Theater as Count Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia, and the Bayerische Staatsoper as Florville in Il signor Bruschino, and later, the Italian Singer in Der Rosenkavalier.
As a member of The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Mr. Lovell covered the title role in Orphée et Eurydice, Arturo in I Puritani, and Arbace in Idomeneo. Most notably he sang opposite Susan Graham and Nathan Gunn as part of the Jazz Trio in Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti, during the “Celebrating 100 Years of Bernstein” concert at Lyric Opera of Chicago.
An avid and experienced concert artist, Josh Lovell has vast experience from numerous performances of the works of Handel, Mozart, Haydn, Britten, Vaughan Williams, and Bach.
He has performed Bach’s Coffee Cantata with Music of the Baroque, Messiah with The International Music Foundation, the Victoria Symphony, as well as the Apollo Chorus of Chicago, Mozart’s Requiem with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with the Sinfonietta Rīga, the Evangelist in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with the Victoria Philharmonic Choir, and sang Bach’s Magnificat and select cantatas with Baroque ensemble I Musici de Montréal. Additionally, Lovell has appeared with the Wiener Philharmoniker, Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, Pacific Baroque Orchestra, and L’Orquestra Simfònica de les Balears.
A Victoria, British Columbia native, Josh Lovell is the winner of the 39th International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition, the Grand Prize and Opera Prize winner of the 52nd Annual International Vocal Competition’s-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands, the 2nd place winner of the 2018 Dallas Opera competition, and the 3rd place winner of the Marcello Giordani Foundation competition.
2023/24 Season
Please note: Biographies are based on information provided to the CSO by the artists or their representatives. More current information may be available on websites of the artists or their management.
