Pygmalion Festival Vancouver/Early Music Vancouver (Pygmalion)
"Watching it, you imagined it being done in 1748 and could well see how it must have enchanted people, that is, if the first Pygmalion was anything like the amazing tenor, Lawrence Wiliford. This was a voice that owed its origins as if to something supernatural with a concluding aria dense with ornament and florid with long brilliant lines."
- Lloyd Dykk, Vancouver Sun, August 15, 2008
"Wiliford, who possesses an impossibly clear tone and lyrical sensitivity, was a revelation in the title role, to which he brought depth and humanity."
- Jessica Werb, Georga Straight, August 15, 2008
"The star of the evening though was Lawrence Wiliford whose sensitivity and skill brought extraordinary humanity to Pygmalion and whose choice and control of line, articulation and ornament produced a performance of unutterable beauty."
- Elizabeth Paterson, Review Vancouver, August 15, 2008
Solomon Elora Festival (Zadok the High Priest)
"...But it's not every year that we get to hear Solomon, especially with
soloists the calibre of soprano Karina Gauvin and young tenor Lawrence
Williford."
- John Terauds, Toronto Star, July 14, 2008
"As Zadok the Priest, U.S.-born tenor Lawrence Wiliford outdid himself in the longest role outside Solomon's own. Wiliford improves with every hearing. His fundamentally light tenor is so well supported by his breathing and his coloratura is so finely attuned to the music's long phrases that he makes an ideal baroque singer."
- Ken Winters, The Globe and Mail, July 14, 2008
Regina Pacific Opera Victoria (Leo) *Canadian Premiere*
"The dramatic content carries the production and, happily, the acting throughout was solid. Tenor Lawrence Wiliford, as the hapless Leo, was particularly engaging."
- Naomi Lester, Monday Magazine, April 24-30, 2008
"...Lawrence Wiliford provides delicious comic relief as Leo Hubbard...."
- Grania Litwin, Times Colonist, April 19, 2008
St. John Passion The Grand Philharmonic Choir
"Wiliford, in the part of the Evangelist, sang with an expressive clarity that drew [the audience] into the setting."
- Susan Deefholts, The Record, March 22, 2008
A Song of Enchantment The Aldeburgh Connection
"But it was tenor Wiliford who made the most passionate and affecting use of a true legato."
- Ken Winters, The Globe and Mail, January 15, 2008
A feast of beautiful sounds
- John Terauds, Toronto Star, January 14, 2008
Weihnachtsoratorium Vancouver Chamber Choir
"The one who amazed me was Wiliford. What a voice he has. He sang his evangelistic part lyrically and firmly, on long clear lines, with brilliant coloratura and the sense of late-breaking news in his urgent report of events."
- Lloyd Dykk, Vancouver Sun, December 01, 2007
"Tenor Lawrence Wiliford as The Evangelist provided the most consistent phrasing and diction; his diligence to the narrative was peerless."
- John Jane, Review Vancouver, November 30, 2007
Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria Opera Atelier (Eumete)
"Lawrence Wiliford's shepherd Eumaeus is one of the show's highlights."
- Jon Kaplan, Now Magazine, November 1 - 7, 2007, Vol. 27 No. 9
"Lawrence Wiliford as the shepheard Eumaeus sang with a firm rich tone."
- Christopher Hoile, Eye Weekly, October 29, 2007
These boots are made for opera
- John Terauds, Toronto Star, October 25, 2007
Lobgesang Toronto Mendelssohn Choir
"Soprano Leslie Fagan and the excellent lyric tenor Lawrence Wiliford were the principal soloists."
- Ken Winters, Globe and Mail, May 13, 2007
"... tenor Lawrence Wiliford ... has been impressive in recent Canadian Opera Company productions."
- John Terauds, Toronto Star, May 10, 2007
St. Matthew Passion Elora Festival (Evangelist)
"... Lawrence Wiliford's role dominates the solo category and calls for incredible vocal agility and stamina -- and we got it, in spades. He is new to this reviewer, and a revelation. For one thing, even very fine Evangelists tend to be just a tad didactic, and their tone a bit constrained and monochromatic. Not Wiliford, who gave the most animated, exciting, and yet at the same time technically unimpeachable account I have ever heard."
- Susan Chilton, The Record, March 27, 2007
Swoon Canadian Opera Company (Roy) *World Premiere*
"[Lawrence Wiliford's] Roy showed a singer-actor with a real talent for comedy."
- Wayne Gooding, Opera Now, March / April, 2007
"All four performers created believable characters, but it was Wiliford's initially inarticulate Roy whose dramatic skill enlivened the show."
- Jon Kaplan, Now Magazine, December 14 - 20, 2006, Vol. 26 No. 15
"A series of references to dancing (duly shown to be a metaphor for relationships) gave director Michael Patrick Albano plenty of opportunities to set his young cast in motion, and almost let Wiliford steal a scene in which he wasn't even singing. [...] Wiliford's scenes with Delorme were especially ripe, and showed even more of this tenor's physical-comedy skills than we saw in the COC's recent Cosi fan tutte."
- Robert Everett-Green, Toronto Globe and Mail, December 9, 2006
"Please, some more of Lawrence J. Wiliford: Lawrence J. Wiliford impressed a lot of people earlier this month stepping into the Canadian Opera Company's production of Cosi fan tutte at the last moment and still serving up an impressive Ferrando - with little or no time in the rehearsal hall. All of which suggests it might just be a real treat to catch this up-and-coming tenor in a performance when he is not flying by the seat of his pants. In fact, that alone is more than enough reason to book your tickets for the COC Ensemble Studio's [production of James Rolfe's new opera, Swoon]."
- John Coulbourn, Toronto Sun, November 5, 2006
A Lasting Spring Four Seasons Centre
"The standout pieces were three Elizabethan poems set to music by 75-year-old Toronto composer Derek Holman. The execution of Holman's frankly sensual music was fascinating. Upchurch dug into the piano part with panache, while Wiliford's light, controlled singing floated over top."
- John Terauds, Toronto Star, November 3, 2006
Cosi fan tutte Canadian Opera Company (Ferrando)
"Kudos to Lawrence J. Wiliford as Ferrando who stepped in. He is a talented and lyric tenor."
- Paula Citron, Classical 96.3FM, October 20, 2006
"Lawrence Wiliford, a stylish young tenor [...], stepped in to make his major role debut on just five hours' notice. He acquitted himself with fluent and well-shaped singing. He has a [...] distinctively appealing tenor that caressed the lovely melody in Un'aura amorosa in a way that was light, lyrical and sensitively coloured."
- Stephen Cera, National Post, October 19, 2006
St. Mark Passion Toronto Chamber Choir
"[Wiliford was a] superb Evangelist, [...] and when he stepped out of his Mark-the-Evangelist role to sing one aria, at the beginning of Part Two, his lovely sound, his lithe legato, and his beautifully directional phrasing defined the difference between the parlando of recitativo and the poetic architecture of aria singing. Wiliford is a valuable and stylish Bach singer. Cherish him."
- Ken Winters, Toronto Globe and Mail, March 13, 2006
"Lawrence Wiliford rose splendidly to the various challenges in his recital. In Schumann's Liederkreis, Op. 24 and Britten's Winter Words he was able to use his beautiful voice and superb diction to engage the audience throughout - it is always a pleasure to experience such a sense of communication."
- Stephen Ralls, Artistic Director, Aldeburgh Connection, April 2005