World-acclaimed tenor Lawrence Brownlee makes for a great story. He’s a local area man who has taken the musical and operatic world by storm. Born in Youngstown, Ohio, Brownlee sang pop tunes in such places as the Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio before he went on to take his place on international stages and in major opera houses around the world. On February 26, he is coming closer to home to perform for Tuesday Musical, a Knight Arts grantee, in a solo performance with pianist Kevin Murphy in E.J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall.

Brownlee has been called the most in-demand American tenor in the world in the bel canto repertoire. Apparently the range of his high voice – and his command over it through articulation and phrasing, as well as strong emotional content and variation – has led critics to say that the singer can astonish audiences with the power and agility of his instrument.

Lawrence Brownlee, tenor. Photo by Derek Blanks

The musical program that he will perform reveals the historical and geographical range of this singer’s voice – from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s classical period aria for tenor and orchestra called “Misero! O sogno, O son desto,” down to contemporary art songs by American composer Ben Moore (who, amusingly enough, wrote a song called “I’m Glad I’m Not a Tenor.”)

Along the way, Brownlee will sing works by Austrian composer Joseph Marx, who has been known best as a writer for vocal works. Brownlee will perform, among others, Marx’s work for high voice and piano, “Christbaum.” These pieces will be followed by Hungarian composer Franz Liszt’s “3 Sonetti del Petrarca,” and after intermission, works by Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera, from his “Canciones Populares Argentinas” or Popular Argentine Songs.

Organizers have noted that a non-operatic highlight of Brownlee’s season last year was an appearance with his friend and collaborator Damien Sneed in “Spiritual Sketches” at the Lincoln Center’s American Songbook series. The concert featured songs from the critically-acclaimed recording of spirituals that Brownlee and Sneed released last season. Brownlee will apparently perform five selections of the 10 spirituals that the two artists collaborated on: “Evry time I feel de Spirit,” “Balm in Gilead,” “All night, all day,” “Deep River,” and “Come by here dear Lord.”

Brownlee last appeared for Tuesday Musical during the 2007-2008 season.

Eric Kisch of northeast Ohio public radio station WCLV will be giving a pre-concert lecture that will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the concert hall.

Lawrence Brownlee will perform for Tuesday Musical at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, February 26 in the E.J. Thomas Performing Arts Hall, 198 Hill St., Akron; 330-972-7570; www.tuesdaymusical.org. Tickets are $25-$45 (free for students with voucher).