Lawrence Zazzo

Lawrence Zazzo (born December 15, 1970 in Philadelphia) is an American countertenor. His repertoire includes roles in many Baroque operas and oratorios, as well as works of the 20th century. He lives in England.

In his childhood Zazzo took part in school drama productions and choirs, including the Philadelphia Boys Choir & Chorale, and also performed as the magician “The Great Zazzini” for smaller children in the neighbourhood. After his voice had broken, he noticed that he had kept his alto voice in the falsetto register and began to develop it. He sang in numerous barbershop ensembles, high school madrigal and a cappella choirs. This led to his decision to study English and Music at Yale University (1989–93) and at King’s College, Cambridge, England, (1993–95).Zazzo envisaged a career as a conductor, a concert singer or as an academic (and in fact, Zazzo completed a PhD in Musicology at Queen’s University (2015) on Handel’s oratorios, which he researched for six years in between singing engagements). While he was completing his vocal studies at the “Royal College of Music” in London (1995–97), he made his debut as Oberon in Benjamin Britten’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. The same year he sang the title role in George Frederic Handel’s “Arminio” at the London Handel Festival. This was the beginning of his opera career which developed rapidly.