Biography
Italian-American soprano Lauren Libaw has been praised for her sparkling, “bright-toned” voice (New York Times) as well as her “warmth of tone and intensity of expression” (The New Yorker). She sings internationally in opera, concert and recital at venues including the Opéra Royal de Versailles, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Palais de Beaux Arts de Bruxelles, and Royal Albert Hall Elgar Room.
A “masterful and affecting” recitalist (operawire.com), Lauren has been heard in song in Aix-en-Provence, Brussels, Florence, London, Los Angeles, New York, and Paris. She does not limit herself to any one style on the recital stage, often programming music from the Great American Songbook, contemporary Broadway, French chanson, and Yiddish theater traditions alongside classical repertoire.
Recent and upcoming operatic engagements include Rose de Mai (Le Val d’Andorre) for Òpera Andorra, Adina (L’Elisir d’Amore) for the Théâtre Senghor, Cendrillon (Cendrillon) for the Tel Aviv-Yafo Opera Festival, Nannetta (Falstaff) for the Fondation Royaumont, Norina (Don Pasquale) for Euphonia Opera and the Rye Arts Festival, Lauretta (Gianni Schicchi) for Norwegian National Opera’s Stage 2, Queen of Sheba (Solomon) for the Crosseny Festival, Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro), Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Rosmene (Imeneo) and Gretel (Hansel und Gretel) at the Royal College of Music and Tirésias (Les Mamelles de Tirésias), Constance (Dialogues des Carmélites), Semele (Semele), Princèsse (L’Enfant et les Sortilèges), and Isifile (Giasone) at Yale.
Projects in contemporary opera include Amy March (Adamo’s Little Women) for the Théâtre Lyrique de Bruges, Geraldine (Barber’s A Hand of Bridge) for the Aspen Music Festival, Endymion (Ash’s Keepers of the Night) for the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus, Hermia (Berv’s PUCK) at the Royal College of Music, and the Sister (Schlosberg’s A Country Doctor) at Yale University; in contemporary song, Mechem’s To An Absent Love for Forest Hill Musical Days, and the premieres of Schlosberg’s Songs of Sorrow and Solitude and Stories, two cycles written especially for her.
Lauren’s musical theater roles include Amalia (She Loves Me), Eliza (My Fair Lady), Julie (Carousel), Magnolia (Showboat), Maria (The Sound of Music), Maria (West Side Story), Sarah (Guys & Dolls), Cinderella (Into the Woods), Cosette (Les Misérables) and Christine (Phantom of the Opera).
Raised in Pasadena, California, Lauren is a graduate of Yale University, where she won the concerto and recital competitions, three academic prizes and the Sudler Prize for the Arts. She is also an alumnus of the Royal College of Music, London, and was a member of the young artist programs of the Aldeburgh Festival, the Aspen Music Festival, and the Fondation Royaumont. Lauren received her earliest training as a member of the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus, singing as a chorister with Los Angeles Opera and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. She lives with her family in Paris.