Opera evening with Erin Morley and Lawrence Brownlee

Renato Balsadonna was born in Venice and pursued his musical studies at the Conservatories of Padua and Milan, where he graduated in piano. He also studied composition under the tutelage of Bruno Coltro.

Recognized for his expertise in both the operatic and symphonic repertoire, Maestro Balsadonna’s recent and upcoming engagements include Anna Bolena at the Gran Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Thaïs at the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos in Lisbon, as well as Rigoletto, Madama Butterfly, La Bohème, Nabucco, and La Traviata at the Royal Opera House in London. He has also conducted Don Pasquale at the New National Theatre in Tokyo. His career has taken him to perform at prestigious international theaters, including Cincinnati Opera, Mariinsky Theatre, Opéra de Nice, Teatro Regio in Turin, Philharmonic in Verona, the Opéra de Wallonie in Liège, Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville, and the Oviedo Opera. Renato has enjoyed a long-standing collaboration with Sir Antonio Pappano, first at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels and later at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, where he held the position of Chorus Director until 2016.

In the symphonic field, he has conducted renowned orchestras, including the Tiroler Festspiele Erl, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Concert Orchestra, the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, and the Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto, among others.

His discography includes the critically acclaimed Passione (DECCA), featuring tenor Freddie De Tommaso with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, one of the most successful recordings in recent years. Additionally, he has recently released a recording of Brahms’ Piano Concertos with the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra. Maestro Balsadonna has also contributed to numerous recordings for esteemed labels such as EMI, Deutsche Grammophon, Warner Classics, Sony Classical, Opera Rara, and Chandos.

Erin Morley is one of today’s most in-demand coloratura sopranos. Her performances have garnered huge critical acclaim as she regularly appears on the great opera stages of the world.
Erin Morley has been praised as “the personification of bel canto” (Opera News), and is “in a class of her own among coloratura sopranos, singing even the most dazzlingly difficult material with beauty and musical sense” (New York Classical Review). A recipient of the Beverly Sills Award, Morley’s performances have garnered huge critical acclaim worldwide as she regularly appears on the greatest opera stages, including the Vienna State Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Bavarian State Opera, Opéra National de Paris, Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona, Staatsoper Berlin, Semperoper Dresden, Teatro La Fenice, Arena di Verona, Glyndebourne Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Los Angeles Opera and Metropolitan Opera, where she has now sung more than 140 performances and has been featured in eight “Live in HD” broadcasts.
For the 2025-26 season, Morley makes her long-awaited role debut as Marie in La Fille du Régiment at the Metropolitan Opera, as well as returning to Pamina in The Magic Flute. She also returns to the Wiener Staatsoper as Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos, and makes a company and role debut as Zdenka in Arabella at Opernhaus Zürich. A highlight of the season will be Pentatone’s release of Morley’s duet album “Golden Age” with superstar tenor Lawrence Brownlee and the Münchner Rundfunkorchester led by Ivan Repušić. Brownlee and Morley will tour this program at Vocal Arts DC, University of Wisconsin, Berlin’s Konzerthaus with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Opera Carolina, and New York City’s 92nd St Y. Elsewhere on the concert platform, Morley will solo with the Met Orchestra at Carnegie’s Weill Hall, delivers a solo recital at Dallas Opera, and returns to the Chicago Symphony for Poulenc’s Gloria.
Morley’s debut recital disc with Gerald Martin Moore, “Rose in Bloom,” released in 2024 and has received critical acclaim worldwide, praising the ‘crystalline debut of a new high coloratura star’. Morley’s many recordings include Morgana in a complete recording of Handel’s Alcina for the Pentatone label, Eurydice in the Met’s GRAMMY-nominated recording of Matthew Aucoin’s Eurydice, Princesse Isabelle in Meyerbeer’s Robert le Diable with Opéra National de Bordeaux for Palazzetto BruZane, Sister Constance in the Met’s GRAMMY-nominated Les Dialogues des Carmélites, as well as Sophie in the Met’s GRAMMY-nominated Der Rosenkavalier on DVD/Blu-Ray for the Decca label; Mater Gloriosa in the LA Phil’s GRAMMY-winning Mahler Symphony No. 8 with Gustavo Dudamel for Deutsche Grammophon; Princess Mi in the Staatskapelle Dresden’s Das Land des Lächelns with Christian Thielemann for Unitel; Sandrina La Finta Giardiniera with Emmanuelle Haïm in Opéra de Lille’s production for the Erato label; Woglinde Götterdämmerung in the Metropolitan Opera’s GRAMMY-winning Lepage Ring Cycle for Deutsche Grammophon; Marguerite de Valois in Les Huguenots, live from Bard SummerScape for the American Symphony Orchestra; Carl Nielsen’s Symphony No. 3 “Espansiva” with Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic for Da Capo Records; and Sylvie in Gounod’s opéra-comique La Colombe with Sir Mark Elder and The Hallé Orchestra for the Opera Rara label.
Morley spent her early years studying violin and piano, and frequently collaborated with her mother, violinist Elizabeth Palmer. An undergraduate of the Eastman School of Music, she went on to earn her Master of Music voice degree from The Juilliard School and her Artist Diploma from the Juilliard Opera Center, where she received the Florence & Paul DeRosa Prize. Morley also trained at the Opera Theatre of St. Louis as a Gerdine Young Artist, the Ravinia Festival Steans Institute, and the Wolf Trap Opera Company as a Filene Young Artist. She won 1st Prize in the Jessie Kneisel Lieder Competition in 2002, and 1st Place in the Licia Albanese Puccini Foundation Competition in 2006. She also received the Richard Tucker Career Grant in 2013, the Beverly Sills Award in 2021, the Opera News Award in 2023, the Eastman School of Music Centennial Award in 2023, and the Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the French government in 2024.