Shortlisted in the category Young Singer at the 2023 International Opera Awards, Laurence Kilsby won first prize in three international competitions; the Das Lied Competition at the Heidelberger Frühling Festspiele, the Wigmore Hall/Bollinger International Song Competition and the Cesti Competition at the Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik. He recently released his debut album with pianist Ella O’Neill, entitled AWAKENINGS, in coproduction with Avi-Musik, Deutsche Grammophon and SWR Kultur.
Laurence began his singing career as a renowned boy treble with the Tewkesbury Abbey Schola Cantorum and was BBC Radio 2’s Young Chorister of the Year in 2009. He appears as a treble soloist on a number of acclaimed recordings, including Mozart’s Coronation Mass and Solemn Vespers (with the Schola Cantorum), as well as the Grammy nominated recording of Handel's L'Allegro, Penseroso ed il Moderato (with the Gabrieli Consort). He is an alumnus of the Royal College of Music (where he was an ABRSM scholar and recipient of the Kathleen Ferrier Bursary) and the Curtis Institute of Music.
In the 2025/26 season, Laurence makes his Glyndebourne Festival debut as the Novice in Billy Budd, sings Lurcanio in Ariodante at Opéra de Versailles, and returns to the BBC Proms with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Sakari Oramo. He performs the Matthäus-Passion with the Concertgebouworkest and Klaus Mäkelä, tours the UK with Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings alongside Sinfonia of London and John Wilson, and makes his US concert debut with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s in Beethoven Symphony No. 9 conducted by Raphaël Pichon.
Continuing his regular collaboration with Pichon and Ensemble Pygmalion, Laurence joins them for a tour of the Matthäus-Passion and performances at the Adelaide Festival. He also tours Handel’s Theodora with Jupiter Ensemble, and appears in recital with pianist Ella O’Neill at both Madrid’s Fundación Juan March and the Théâtre de l’Athénée in Paris.
Recent highlights include appearances at the Opéra national de Paris, Opéra national du Rhin, Opéra Comique, and the Aix-en-Provence and Innsbruck Early Music Festivals, as well as performances with the Rotterdam Philharmonic, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, and RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra.