Jonathan Johnson

Biography

A native of Macon, Georgia, tenor Jonathan Johnson is a third-year Ensemble member of The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center at Lyric Opera of Chicago. He holds a professional artist certificate from the A. J. Fletcher Institute of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. His roles there included Ruggero/La rondine, Lechmere/Owen Wingrave, Azaël/Debussy’s L’enfant prodigue, and Fenton/Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor. Other performance credits include Ezekiel Cheever/The Crucible (Piedmont Opera) and the title role/Candide and Rev. Horace Adams/Peter Grimes (Aspen Summer Music Institute). The tenor received his Bachelor of Music degree from Mercer University’s Townsend School of Music, where he sang the title role/Cavalli’s L’Egisto, Camille de Rosillon/The Merry Widow, and Nemorino/L’elisir d’amore. He made his Chicago debut performing in Poulenc’s Les mamelles de Tirésias with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. This Spring brought Johnson’s debut with the New York Philharmonic in a concert with Grammy-winning trumpet player Chris Botti and his debut with Portland Opera (Lindoro/L’italiana in Algeri). At Lyric Opera, the tenor has performed in Capriccio, Il trovatore, The Magic Victrola, The Passenger, Le nozze di Figaro, The Merry Widow, and Der Rosenkavalier. During the 2016/17 Lyric season Johnson is featured in Lucia di Lammermoor, Les Troyens, and Don Quichotte. Future engagements include his debut with San Diego Opera (Fenton/Falstaff) and Lyric Opera of Kansas City (Frederic/The Pirates of Penzance).