Rising star, Lauren Decker, possesses a booming contralto with “amber low notes” that is in a league of its own. She is 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 most recently covered the role of Erda in Das Rheingold and Siegfried, 1st Norn in Götterdämmerung, and performed Schwertleite in Die Walküre as a part of David Pountney’s “brilliantly imaginative”, new Ring Cycle at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Lauren made her Lyric Opera debut as Third Lady in Die Zauberflöte and went on to perform as Jade Boucher in Dead Man Walking, First Maid in Elektra, Inez in Il trovatore, Enrichetta di Francia in I puritani, and Annina in La traviata. While there, she also covered the roles of Madame de la Haltière in Massenet’s Cendrillon, Hécuba/Anna in Les Troyens, and Marthe Schwertlein in Faust. Outside of the mainstage, Lauren was seen as Miss Todd in The Old Maid and the Thief at the Grant Park Music Festival.

In summer 2019, Ms. Decker made a triumphant debut with the San Francisco Symphony in Elgar’s Sea Pictures, a signature work for her. She has also performed in concert with the South Dakota Symphony in Mahler 8, the Apollo Chorus/Elmhurst Symphony in the Verdi Requiem, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and the Harare International Festival of the Arts in Zimbabwe.

Additional roles in her repertoire include Ulrica from Un ballo in maschera, Principessa in Suor Angelica, Azucena in Il trovatore, and Dame Quickly in Falstaff.

Lauren was a quarterfinalist in the 2019 Operalia competition in Prague. She is a recent recipient of the Richard F. Gold career grant and was a national semifinalist in the 2018 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, having previously been a two-time recipient of an Encouragement Award at their Upper Midwest Region. Winner of the 2019 Edith Newfield Scholarship from the Musician’s Club of Women of Chicago and 2018 Lola Fletcher scholarship in voice with the American Opera Society of Chicago, Decker has been featured in the Harris Theater’s Beyond the Aria series alongside Christine Goerke and Eric Owens and, later, Michael Fabiano and Zachary Nelson.

In addition to her four year tenure at the Ryan Opera Center, Decker has participated in the Britten-Pears Program at Snape Maltings, United Kingdom, Dolora Zajick’s Institute for Young Dramatic Voices, the American Wagner Project (Washington, D.C.) and the Georg Solti Accademia di Bel Canto (Italy). The Wisconsin native holds a B.F.A. in vocal performance from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She currently resides in Milwaukee.