Lauren Sutherland, soprano
Chicago, IL
Coloratura soprano Lauren Sutherland wins over audiences with her energetic stage presence and her glittering high notes. She is establishing herself as an artistically versatile singer, already performing leading roles in both operatic and musical theatre repertoire. The 23/24 season sees Lauren’s role debut as Marian Paroo in The Music Man with the Pinckney Players, as well as her Carnegie Hall debut singing excerpts as Cunegonde (Candide) and Gianetta (L’elisir d’amore). Lauren will be debuting several roles in Fall 2024. In September 2024, Lauren will sing Madame Herz in Mozart's The Impresario as part of the Capitol City Opera Festival in Lansing, Michigan and additionally will be performing with the Savoyaires in Evanston, IL as Phyllis for their production of Iolanthe.
From her early training at the Las Vegas Academy of the Arts, Lauren was especially drawn to comedic roles and has since excelled portraying some of opera's funniest heroines such as Cunegonde (Candide), Adele (Die Fledermaus), Serpetta (La finta giardiniera), and Zerbinetta (Ariadne auf Naxos). She has also been recognized for her outstanding comedic acting as a finalist in the 2023 Harold Haugh Comic Opera Competition.
Her previous operatic roles include Le Feu (L’enfant et les sortilèges), Belinda (Dido and Aeneas), the Dew Fairy (Hänsel und Gretel), Pamina (Die Zauberflöte) and Naiad (Ariadne auf Naxos). She has performed with the Midwest Opera Theatre, singing both Musetta (La Bohème) and La Suora Zelatrice (Suor Angelica). Her musical theater credits include Susan in the 2009 musical [title of show], the Fairy Godmother in Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, and Marian in The Music Man.
Aside from her career as a soloist, Lauren is also an accomplished chorister. She joined the Toledo Opera chorus in the 22/23 season where she appeared in Suor Angelica and Cavalleria Rusticana, and she returns for their 23/24 season appearing in Roméo et Juliette and Ragtime. She performed with the Toledo Symphony Chorus in Handel's Messiah (2022, 2023) and Mahler's Third Symphony.
Lauren holds degrees from the Wheaton College Conservatory and the University of Missouri Kansas City. Her graduate research included an overview of Scandinavian song literature, as well as a thesis on Agathe Backer-Grøndahl’s Norwegian song cycles Barnets vårdag and Sommer. During her time at UMKC, she was a finalist in both the Chancellor’s Competition and the Concert Aria Competition, and was a two-time recipient of the UMKC Women’s Council Grant. As a Graduate Teaching Assistant at UMKC, Lauren taught private voice lessons to undergraduate students, and continues to nurture students in her active private studio.
Lauren is an avid runner and recently completed her fifth half marathon. She also loves game nights, knitting, and scouring vintage stores. She resides in Chicago, IL with her husband David, cat Leonard Bernstein, and dog Bird.