ABOUT
CHRISTOPHER
This season, Christopher sings Opera, Oratorio, and Chamber Music in Europe and North America, and makes his debuts at both the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich and Oper Frankfurt.
Christopher sings with a wide range of distinguished companies around the world, including The Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House, Carnegie Hall, Glyndebourne Festival, BBC Proms, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Wigmore Hall, Philharmonie de Paris, Barbican Centre, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Teatro Real, La Fenice, Aix-en-Provence Festival, Academy of Ancient Music, Boston Early Music Festival, Opéra Royal de Versailles, Pinchgut Opera, English National Opera, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, English Concert, Bach Collegium Japan, Ensemble Pygmalion, Boston Baroque, Arcangelo, Early Opera Company, Ambronay Festival, Ensemble Pygmalion, Le Banquet Céleste, Opéra National du Rhin, La Nuova Musica, London Handel Festival, B'Rock Orchestra, Kammerochester Basel, Cappella Mediterranea, Göttingen Handel Festival, Forvm Antiqua, Adelaide Festival, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Gulbenkian Orchestra, and Voices of Music. He has worked with a variety of conductors including William Christie, Vladimir Jurowski, Christophe Rousset, Laurence Cummings, Ivor Bolton, Richard Egarr, Harry Bicket, Raphaël Pichon, Christian Curnyn, Stephen Layton, Masaaki Suzuki, Erin Helyard, David Bates, Damien Guillon, Roberto Abbado, Leonardo García-Alarcón, and Martin Pearlman.
Recent operatic roles include Guildenstern in Brett Dean's Hamlet at the Metropolitan Opera, Handel Partenope (Armindo) at Teatro Real, Handel Rodelinda (Bertarido) at the Gottingen Handel Festival, Vivaldi Farnace (title role) with Pinchgut Opera in Sydney, Handel Giulio Cesare (title role) performed at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, Ambronay Festival, and the Enescu Festival in Bucharest, Handel Agrippina (Ottone) with Les Talens Lyriques directed by Christophe Rousset, Steffani Orlando Generoso (Ruggiero) for the Boston Early Music Festival, directed by Stephen Stubbs and Paul O’Dette, and the world premiere of a 17th-century work by Legrenzi, La Divisione del Mondo (Marte) for Opéra National du Rhin in Strasbourg and Opéra National de Lorraine in Nancy.
Recent concert appearances include Handel Giulio Cesare (title role) with Forvm Antiqua in Barcelona and Oviedo, a recital of duets at the Wigmore Hall with Louise Alder, soprano, and Ensemble Marsyas, Pergolesi Stabat Mater with B'Rock Orchestra in Antwerp, Rouen, and Gent, Handel Messiah with Boston Baroque, Charpentier and Purcell with La Nuova Musica, Bach Magnificat at Versailles and Dijon, Bach Trauerode with the Gulbenkian Orchestra, solo recitals in San Francisco with Voices of Music, a North American and European tour of Handel Semele (Athamus) with The English Concert directed by Harry Bicket, culminating in Christopher’s Carnegie Hall debut, Bach St. John Passion with Le Banquet Céleste, directed by Damien Guillon, a Bach and Vivaldi programme in Hong Kong with British group Arcangelo, directed by Jonathan Cohen, and Bach Cantatas at the Philharmonie de Paris with Ensemble Pygmalion.
"Countertenor Christopher Lowrey produced an excellent performance as Bertarido, in which his identification with the role was complete...Yet, his singing was so much more than giving voice to his emotions, for it was a performance founded on solid technique and vocal beauty."
OPERA WIRE
His growing catalogue of recordings includes Handel Rodelinda (Bertarido) on the Accent label, Pergolesi Stabat Mater with Les Talens Lyriques on the Alpha Label, Handel Arminio (title role) on the Accent label, Theodora (Didymus) with Pinchgut Opera on ABC Classics, Dean Hamlet (Guildenstern) on DVD from the Glyndebourne Festival on the Opus Arte label, i 7 Peccati Capitali, a disc of Monteverdi opera and madrigals on Ricercar records, Handel Susanna (Joacim) on Accent, Vivaldi Bajazet (Tamerlano) on ABC Classics, Handel Faramondo (Gernando) on Accent, Monteverdi Il ritorna d’Ulisse in Patria (L’Humana Fragilità) on Linn Records, Handel and Vivaldi Dixit Dominus on the Harmonia Mundi label, the Bernstein Missa Brevis on Hyperion, and a solo album of Handel Arias for the EMI Emerging Artists Series.
Christopher is also active as a conductor of choral music. He is the founder and director of Ensemble Altera, a leading American chamber choir based in Rhode Island. Upcoming plans for the group include a concert and debut album of "The Lamb's Journey", a choral depiction of the Christ narrative, which features a diverse array of repertoire from the Renaissance to three world-premiere works. Over the past few seasons, Ensemble Altera has blazed a trail with unique programs such as “We Watch & Welcome: Feminine Voices at Christmas,” featuring works by seven female composers for treble voices arrayed around Britten's Ceremony of Carols, and previously "We Remember", a musical journey of healing and reflection in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Originally from the United States, Christopher holds degrees with distinction from Brown University, the University of Cambridge, where he was a choral scholar with Trinity College Choir under Stephen Layton, and the Royal College of Music International Opera School. He is a winner of the Helpmann Awards, the Sullivan Foundation Award, the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, the Michael Oliver Prize at the London Handel Singing Competition, and the Keasbey Award. He has studied with Russell Smythe, Derek Lee Ragin, Ashley Stafford, and Pierre Massé.