About this Artist
Laurel Irene (M.M.), Los Angeles-based “astounding...downright superhuman” (Los Angeles Times) vocal artist and voice researcher, specializes in bringing new compositional works to life with vocal repertoire ranging from Monteverdi to Mozart to the wacky, wild, and extreme sounds of the 21st century. With incredible vocal range, agile flexibility, and “resigned, compassionate, forbearing, affectionate, sympathetic, absolving” (Los Angeles Times) emotional connection that stretches from playful to unhinged in the span of a page, she draws on her expertise in vocal research to heighten unique timbres, textures, and vocal expressions. In 2019 she performed the role of Countess Almaviva in REDCAT’s 12-hour endurance art piece, earning Mark Swed’s acclaim as “one of the most astonishing performances, vocally and interpretively, I have ever encountered.” Other features include Long Beach Opera (Kate Soper’s Voices from the Killing Jar and The Romance of the Rose, world premiere), Musica Angelica (Purcell’s The Fairy Queen), The Kennedy Center (Baljinder Sekhon premiere), LA Phil New Music Group (John Cage’s Europeras 1 & 2), The Industry (Du Yun and Raven Chacon’s Sweetland), Monday Evening Concerts (John Sheppard’s Media Vita, Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians), and The First Congregational Church, L.A. (Vivaldi’s Gloria, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, Fauré’s Requiem, Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem).