Professional Biography
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Jonathan Lemalu, bass-baritone
Jonathan completed three years study at the Royal College of Music (RCM) in July 2002, taking with him the Colleges 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.
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ConcertsRecitalsCompetitionsOperas
Concerts
Jonathan had a great introduction to the world of the concert platform before even leaving the shores of New Zealand. His earliest memory of the concert platform was at church concerts with the Sunday School of First Church of Otago, Dunedin, where his family continues to worship.
"An enjoyment of being with people and entertaining meant that the chance to get out in front of others and enjoy myself came quite naturally."
In Dunedin, Jonathan performed on many occasions, particularly as a chorister under Dr Raymond White, whom Jonathan credits as being a key influence on his life:
"Dr White taught me how to respect and love music, combined with a religious attitude to others and to musical traditions, particularly religious music and the oratorio style."
The Dunedin Town Hall holds special memories, where Jonathan as choir member, soloist, composer, arranger and conductor, spent many years learning from others on his musical apprenticeship.
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Jonathan has performed at all the major New Zealand venues, particularly at Auckland's Town Hall, Wellington's Town Hall and Michael Fowler Centre, Christchurch Town Hall and of course, the Dunedin Town Hall. In doing so, he has also worked with many of the country's leading orchestras, including:
Southern Sinfonia (Nicholas Braithwaite, Tecwyn Evans)
Christchurch Symphony (Brian Law)
Wellington Symphony (Bret Morris)
Auckland Philharmonic (Michael Lloyd)
New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (James Judd, Michael Lloyd, Kenneth Young)
The highlights of Jonathan's concert career in New Zealand include performing Mozart arias with the NZSO at the 2000 Olympics Arts Festival at the Sydney Opera House, and his farewell concert which sold out the Dunedin Town Hall in 1999.
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On the concert platform in the UK, Jonathan has appeared at:
St Martin-in-the-Fields
St James' Piccadilly
St John's Smith Square
King's College Chapel, Cambridge
The Royal Albert Hall
Linbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House (ROH)
Queen Elizabeth Hall (Southbank)
Westminster Abbey
Wigmore Hall
Barbican
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Jonathan has already worked with many of London's leading orchestras, including:
RCM Chamber Orchestra (Sir David Willcocks, Peter Schreier)
Symphonietta and Opera Orchestras (Sir Colin Davis, Michael Rosewell)
English Chamber Orchestra (Ralf Gothóni)
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (Yves Abel)
BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC First Night of the Proms, Vaughan Williams' Serenade to Music under Leonard Slatkin)
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (Donald Runnicles)
BT Scottish Ensemble (Mathew Owens)
The Hanover Band
London Pro Arte Orchestra (Murray Stewart)
The Academy of Ancient Music (Stephen Cleobury)
Menuhin Festival Orchestra
Sinfonia Varsovia (David Stern)
Orchestra Koln (Edwin Ortner)
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Recitals
"Recital is such a wonderful medium, where the singer has the opportunity to find a rapport with the audience. Particularly with the duo of voice and piano, the song repertoire lends itself to genuine emotions. It is also a wonderful challenge as because the voice is so exposed, any vocal, stylistic and linguistic difficulties are highlighted."
Jonathan's earliest recital was at Marama Hall, University of Otago, Dunedin with Terence Dennis, his first recital partner. The duo performed throughout NZ, and also in the United Kingdom and America.
Recital highlights since then include a highly successful Christchurch Arts Festival recital in 1999, and American recital debuts at Assembly Hall, Salt Lake City and NZ Embassy, Washington DC.
"He gave a performance of remarkable maturity, strongly characterised and warmly and engagingly expressive. Lemalu's commanding presence, flexible technique and ability to sing as if to you alone are characteristics that would be the envy of many great singers."
(Christchurch Press, 1999)
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As a busy recitalist, Jonathan has continued his love of the song repertoire in London with Michael Hampton, a former RCM Geoffrey Parsons Junior Fellow. This duo has become well-known in concert and competition, performing in various London recital venues, including St Martin-in-the-Fields, St James' Piccadilly, the Linbury Studio Theatre (ROH), Queen Elizabeth Hall (Southbank), RCM Recital Hall as well as in arts festivals throughout the United Kingdom. The highlight this year was their debut performance of Schubert's Winterreise (RCM), and their professional recital debut as part of London's prestigious Wigmore Hall BBC Lunchtime Concert Series (broadcast live on BBC3 Radio in July 2001). The duo returned to Wigmore Hall in November 2001 to perform Brahms Vier ernste gesänge at the Royal Over-Seas League (ROSL) Annual Music Competition Prizewinners' Concert.
"Jonathan Lemalu, a young NZ bass-baritone, delighted his audience with a programme of songs by Schubert, Brahms, Ravel and Finzi. The linguistic and musical demands might seem daunting for a young singer, but Lemalu approached his task with sincerity, quiet confidence, and above all an extraordinarily rich palette of vocal colours which he used with an unerringly intuitive feel for the music.
[…]
The personality and character with which these were delivered leads one to look forward with eager anticipation to the continuing development of his operatic career. I was very much reminded of hearing the young Bryn Terfel."
(Kentish Times, London, 2001)
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Competitions / Scholarships
At just 18, Jonathan entered and won his first senior vocal competition section (novice) at the 1994 Dunedin Performing Arts Competitions and was awarded the Lorna Brown Trophy.
"Competitions were always enjoyable, as there didn't seem to be too much at stake. At first, I was more worried about getting the music and words right than gaining any success. Competitions are a great chance to meet and hear other singers, and can often be quite inspiring."
Jonathan gained more competition experience in Dunedin over the next 2 years, culminating in his winning the 1996 ODT Aria Contest (Dunedin Performing Arts Competitions Society), after being awarded 3rd place the year before. The next milestone was entering New Zealand's premier singing competition, the Mobil Song Quest, in 1996, which his teacher, Honor McKellar, said was purely for the experience of auditioning as it was such a big competition. As a finalist, Jonathan won the Concert FM Prize and the Temple Square Concert Series Prize under adjudicator, Sarah Walker. Over the next 3 years, Jonathan would find more competition success, winning the Australasian trifecta of the 1997 Dame Sister Mary Leo Scholarship, the 1998 Mobil Song Quest adjudicated by Tom Krause, and Australia's 1999 McDonald's Operatic Aria Contest at the Sydney Opera House.
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In the UK, Jonathan won 14 competitions and awards in the year 2000, culminating in his winning of the prestigious inaugural Llangollen International Singer 2000 Competition with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra under Yves Abel at the Llangollen International Eisteddfod.
Other competition successes include:
RCM Graziella Sciutti Recital Prize
RCM Keith Faulkner Oratorio Prize
2000 LASMO Staffa Singers Prize
Bruce Millar/Gulliver Award for Young Opera Singers (Glasgow)
Overall winner of the Royal Over-Seas League Competition (and Royal Over-Seas League Singers Prize, and Overseas Award)
Richard Tauber Prize for Singers (Wigmore Hall)
Concert FM Broadcasting Artist of the Year (NZ)
2000 recipient of the RCM Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Rosebowl (presented by HRH Prince Charles) and NFMS Alfreda Hodgson Prize
Jonathan is also a Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Scholar, President Emerita Scholar, Leverhulme Trust Scholar, Tillet Trust Scholar and Singers Academy Scholar at the RCM. He has also been made a 2002/2003 BBC Young Generation Artist.
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ConcertsRecitalsCompetitionsOperas
Opera
Jonathan's 'stage' debut was as a 12 year old pupil at Kenmure Intermediate School in Dunedin, where he played Joseph in "Joseph and the amazing techni-colour dream coat". From there, he appeared in various high school, operatic society and university productions. Jonathan's first operatic experience came as a 16 year old chorus member for Opera Otago's production of The Pearl Fishers:
"My two distinct memories of that initial operatic experience were that a) rehearsals clashed a lot with rugby practice, and b) as a fisherman in the chorus, there was "a lot of kneeling and praying" when the principals were singing."
In 1998, Jonathan made his professional operatic debut as Colline (La Bohème) for the National Opera of Wellington, now known as NBR New Zealand Opera.
Operatic roles in New Zealand have included:
Superintendent Budd (Albert Herring)
Man Friday (Robinson Crusoe)
Harry Griffiths (Stars of Orion - by Dunedin composer John Drummond)
Father (Classical Polynesia - directed by the late Iosefa Enari for the 1998 NZ International Arts Festival in Wellington)
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In London, roles have included:
Dr Bartolo/Antonio (Le nozze di Figaro) and Bartolo (Il Barbiere di Siviglia) for Clonter Festival Opera (UK)
Father Truelove (The Rake's Progress)
Police Commissioner (Il Signor Bruschino)
Leporello (Don Giovanni) under Sir Colin Davis for the London Royal Schools' Opera
Bottom (A Midsummer Night's Dream) under Michael Rosewell for the Benjamin Britten International Opera School
Sentinel (Les Troyens) under Donald Runnicles in the Usher Hall at the 2001 Edinburgh International Festival
Dr Bartolo (Le nozze di Figaro) under David Stern with Barbara Bonney and Gerald Finley at the Menuhin Festival Gstaad 2001 in Switzerland.
Oberto (Oberto) at the Linbury Studio Theatre (ROH) under Richard Farnes for Amici di Verdi
"Baritone Jonathan Lemalu (Bottom) has an almost preternaturally powerful voice and uses it with remarkable versatility - and if he isn't as famous as Bryn Terfel in five years' time, I'll eat my own hat. So catch him now before the international opera houses gloop him up."
(London Metro, 2001)
"Jonathan Lemalu as Bottom has a gorgeously rich, penetrating baritone voice that would be welcome at Glyndebourne or English National Opera right away. He is also the kind of naturally charismatic artist you can't take your eyes off and combines a warm, comic approach with a nice touch of half-bumptious self-deprecation."
(Sunday Telegraph, 2001)
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During Jonathan's studies and travels, he has been fortunate to work in masterclass, workshop, performance and under the direction of many of the world's leading performers including:
Sarah Walker
Tom Krause
Wolfgang Holzmair
Sir Thomas Allen
Patricia McMahon
Lilian Watson
John Tomlinson
Barbara Bonney
Thomas Hampson
Gerald Finley
Peter Schreier
Ryland Davies
Della Jones
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ConcertsRecitalsCompetitionsOperas