Rising star Lauren Decker possesses a booming contralto with “amber low notes” that is in a league of its own—lauded for “pouring out a dark, chocolatey sound with a plushness of tone and amplitude of voice rarely heard in a young singer.”
Ms. Decker’s 2022/23 season ushers in impressive operatic debuts for nearly every venue and role: Toledo Opera’s Cavalleria rusticana/Suor Angelica (Mamma Lucia/Principessa), Madison Opera’s Salome (Herodias), Palm Beach Opera’s Falstaff (Quickly), Dayton Opera’s Das Rheingold (Erda), and Haymarket Opera Company’s Marc’Antonio e Cleopatra (Marc’Antonio). She is also engaged to feature as a soloist in Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with Richmond Symphony, Mendelssohn’s Elijah with The Florida Orchestra, and Handel’s Messiah with Camerata Chicago.
Recent seasons brim with notable debuts at esteemed venues, including San Francisco Orchestra in Elgar’s Sea Pictures—a signature work for her, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Opera Philadelphia in Rigoletto (Giovanna), and Aspen Music Festival as a Renée Fleming Artist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Die Zauberflöte (Third Lady), and Rodelinda (Eduige). She has also performed with South Dakota Symphony as Maria Aegyptiaca in Mahler’s Symphony No. 8, the Bozeman Symphony in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Frankly Music in Brahms ’Two Songs for Voice, the Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra in Verdi’s Requiem, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and the Harare International Festival of the Arts in Zimbabwe.
As an alumna of the Ryan Opera Center at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Ms. Decker assumed an abundance of roles while working with a cadre of world-renowned leaders in the artform. After her company debut as the Third Lady in Die Zauberflöte, she would go on to perform in Die Walküre (Schwertleite), Dead Man Walking (Jade Boucher), Elektra (First Maid), Il Trovatore (Inez), I puritani (Enrichetta di Francia), and La Traviata (Annina). Covers included Das Rheingold/Siegfried (Erda), Götterdämmerung (1st Norn), Cendrillon (Madame de la Haltière), Les Troyens (Hécuba/Anna), and Faust (Marthe Schwertlein). She was also seen as Miss Todd in The Old Maid and the Thief at the Grant Park Music Festival, and featured in Harris Theater’s ‘Beyond the Aria’ series.
In competition, Ms. Decker was a quarter finalist in the 2019 Operalia competition in Prague, is a recent recipient of the Richard F. Gold career grant, and was a national semifinalist in the 2018 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, after having received two Encouragement Awards at their Upper Midwest Region. Ms. Decker was a winner of both the 2019 Edith Newfield Scholarship from Chicago’s Musicians Club of Women and the 2018 Lola Fletcher scholarship in voice with the American Opera Society of Chicago. She has also participated in the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme, Dolora Zajick’s Institute for Young Dramatic Voices, the American Wagner Project, and the Georg Solti Accademia di Bel Canto.
