+++
date = "2018-10-21T20:54:00-04:00"
discipline = "Tenor"
lastmod = "2018-10-21T20:54:00-04:00"
primary_image = "https://res.cloudinary.com/schmopera/image/upload/v1545409169/media/webhook-uploads/1540169590876/_JMR2167JeremyReed.jpg.jpg"
primary_image_credit = "Jeremy Reed"
publishDate = "2018-10-21T20:54:00-04:00"
related_companies = ["scene/companies/boston-lyric-opera.md","scene/companies/welsh-national-opera.md","scene/companies/nashville-opera.md","scene/companies/florida-grand-opera.md","scene/companies/palm-beach-opera.md","scene/companies/opera-omaha.md"]
slug = "jonathan-burton"
title = "Jonathan Burton"
website = "http://jburtontenor.com/index.asp"
[[social_media]]
platform = "Twitter"
template = "social-media"
url = "https://twitter.com/jburtontenor"
+++

American tenor Jonathan Burton has been praised for having “thrilling power and beauty” (Baltimore Sun) and for being “an engaging all-around singer with a powerful, full-bodied sound.” (Opera News) For his recent turn as Calaf in *Turandot*, (Opera News) proclaimed that he “produced a wonderfully shaded ‘Nessun Dorma’ that included brilliant top notes” and the (Herald Tribune) raved “a tenor who can add substantial flesh to Calaf as well as deliver the most famous aria of Italian grand opera to satisfaction is a rare find...Burton hit the jackpot with his delivery of ‘Nessun dorma’ that could stand confidently next to our worn recordings of Corelli, Domingo and Pavarotti.”  

Mr. Burton begins the 2018-2019 season with his role debut as Bacchus in *Ariadne auf Naxos* with Austin Opera. Other performances include Calaf in *Turandot* with Knoxville Opera, Tulsa Opera, and Dayton Opera, Sarasota Opera, Pinkerton in *Madama Butterfly* with Welsh National Opera, Manrico in *Il Trovatore* with Central City Opera, Dick Johnson in *La Fanciulla del West* with Maryland Lyric Opera, and Canio in *Pagliacci* with Opera Omaha. He then performs on a double bill of *Il Tabarro* and *Pagliacci* as Canio and Luigi with Maryland Lyric Opera before he takes on Maurizio in *Adriana Lecouvreur* with Knoxville Opera. Mr. Burton will be singing the role of Turiddu from *Cavalleria Rusticana* in concert with Knoxville Opera after performing with the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra for their Look at the World concert, as well as a concert with the Rhode Island Philharmonic. 

During the 2016-2017 season the tenor bowed as Cavaradossi in *Tosca* with Central City Opera, and as Dick Johnson in La Fanciulla del West with Opera Colorado, where “he proved once again his credentials as a Puccini tenor.  Johnson is not the easiest character to love, but Burton imbued him with sympathy, and his long scene with Citro in Act II is easily the high point of the evening.” (Daily Camera). Additionally, he took the stage as Riccardo in *Un Ballo in Maschera* with Florida Grand Opera, as Calaf in *Turandot* with Des Moines Metro Opera, Dick Johnson in *La Fanciulla del West* with New York City Opera, Cavaradossi in *Tosca* with Boston Lyric Opera and Opera Omaha, and as Pinkerton in *Madama Butterfly* with Welsh National Opera. He took the role of Turiddu in *Cavalleria Rusticana* with Opera Steamboat for concert performances, and joined the Dayton Opera and Opera Louisianne in concert performances. 

Highlights from the 2015-2016 season include his performances of Calaf in *Turandot* with Nashville Opera, Cavaradossi in *Tosca* with Knoxville Opera and Radamès in *Aida* with Sarasota Opera where he “showed his heroic bona fides in the opera’s opening minutes tackling “Celeste Aida”–one of the most tortuous arias in the repertoire–with clarion tone, easy projection and ringing top notes. . . Burton sang strongly and passionately throughout in an arduous role.” (The Classical Review)  During the 2014-2015 season Mr. Burton took the stage as Dick Johnson in *La Fanciulla del West* with Des Moines Metro Opera where (Opera Today) raved “Jonathan Burton poured out impassioned, emotionally generous phrases as Dick Johnson (Ramerrez). Mr. Burton has an exciting squillo in his full-bodied tenor that is riveting. But Mr. Burton can also exude a persuasive charm as he croons gentler phrases and caresses them with a knowing legato.”  

Additional engagements during the season included Manrico in *Il Trovatore* with Knoxville Opera, the title role in Don Carlos with Sarasota Opera, and both Dick Johnson in *La Fanciulla del West* and Florestan in *Fidelio* with Kentucky Opera. Past highlights have included appearances at Dayton Opera, Utah Opera, Opera Naples, Castleton Festival, Sinfónica de Galicia under the baton of Lorin Maazel, Kentucky Opera, Royal Opera House Muscat in Oman, Annapolis Opera, Opera New Jersey, Utah Festival Opera, Opera on the James, Central City Opera, Lyric Opera of Virginia, Palm Beach Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Palm Beach Opera, Southern Ohio Light Opera Company, Kentucky Symphony Orchestra, Lexington Philharmonic, Southern Ohio Symphony.
