Artist Overview
# Classical
Jonathan Fa'afetai Lemalu (born 1976) is a New Zealand bass baritone opera singer.Born to Samoan parents who had emigrated to New Zealand, he was educated in Dunedin.He studied both Law and Music at the University of Otago, graduating with a Bachelor of Laws in 1999. Lemalu studied at the Royal College of Music (RCM), where he won the college's gold medal award in 2002.He won the prestigious London-based Kathleen Ferrier Award (previously won by Malvina Major in 1966) that same year.He was a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist from 2002 to 2004.He was the 2004 winner of the Royal Philharmonic Society's award for Young Artist of the Year.At the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards Lemalu was a co-recipient of the Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording for his work on "Britten: Billy Budd".In 2013 he was awarded the Senior Pacific Artist Award at the Creative New Zealand Arts Pasifka Awards. Lemalu's wife is the Croatian mezzo-soprano Sandra Martinovic, with whom he has given joint recitals.They live in London with his wife and their son.