After three successful years as a member of the Bremen Opera Company, Laura Pedersen is now poised to emerge as one of the leading lyric sopranos of her generation. The most exciting triumph upon Ms. Pedersen’s return to America is her recent debut as Verdi’s most beloved heroine, Violetta, in La Traviata with The Indianapolis Opera this past October, 2002. The audience leapt to their feet at each performance when Ms. Pedersen came out for her bow and the critics were equally enthusiastic of the debut with such critical acclaim as: “sang like an angel”, “sang a well-burnished Violetta…she dominated all four acts”, ”sang and acted the difficult leading role of Violetta superbly”, and more.

Highlights of recent European seasons include the role of Graziella in the world premiere of Detlev Glaner’s Joseph Süss as well as her standard repertoire of Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, Despina in Così fan tutte, Musetta in La bohème, Oscar in Un ballo in maschera, Maria in West Side Story, Frasquita in Carmen and Adele in Strauss’ Die Fledermaus. In the U.S., Ms. Pedersen made her Los Angeles debut in concert with musicians from the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Other successful role debuts include Amour in Gluck’s Orphée under the baton of Rainer Mühlbach, which Ms. Pedersen interpreted with tremendous “VOCAL EASE AND FULL COMMAND OF HER ASSURED STAGE PRESENCE” - WESER KURIER and the playful Oscar in Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera. She returned to the Cleveland Opera as Donna Elvira in Mozart’s Don Giovanni under the direction of Scott Bergeson.

In addition to these successes, the true highlight of Laura Pedersen’s second season in Bremen was her exceptional performance as Maria in a new production of Bernstein’s West Side Story directed by English choreographer Rosamund Gilmore that proved to be one of the most successful productions at the Bremen Theater in recent years. The critics praised her ability “TO COMBINE FLUCTUATING EMOTIONS WITH LOVELY, LYRICAL EMPHASIS” AS WELL AS NOTING THAT “HER VOCAL PERFORMANCE WAS OUTSTANDING” - NORDSEE-ZEITUNG. Ms. Pedersen also performed the lead role of Marie Laurencin in the world premiere of The Banquet composed by Italian conductor Marcello Panni with the libretto written by New York poet Kenneth Koch in a production staged by award-winning director David Mouchtar-Samorai.

Laura Pedersen’s debut in Bremen included roles such as Frasquita in a new production of Carmen while studying Norina in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale. Her performances were such a success with audiences and critics alike that she was thereafter cast as the sole Norina. Under the auspices of the Austrian Ministry of Culture, Ms. Pedersen performed Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni with Maestro Manfred Mayrhofer in a guest production at the Tirana Opera in Albania.

An Iowa native, Ms. Pedersen earned her Master’s Degree in Vocal Performance as a scholarship student at the Cleveland Institute of Music after receiving her Bachelor’s degree from Iowa State University in Ames. She participated in the opera studio program at the Lyric Opera Cleveland and was an Associate Artist with the Cleveland Opera. Additionally Ms. Pedersen has coached the role of Violetta, among others, with Renata Scotto. She has given numerous concert and opera performances with the Richard Tucker Foundation, Cleveland Orchestra, Tulsa Opera, Dorian Opera Theatre and the Lyric Opera Cleveland. Operas performed with these companies include The Crucible, The Ballad of Baby Doe, Così fan tutte, La Rondine and Die Zauberflöte.

Laura Pedersen was the winner of the District Metropolitan Opera National Auditions and was a finalist in the Great Lakes Regional Metropolitan Opera National Auditions. She won first place in the Opera Columbus Competition after having earned recognition as a Finalist and semi-finalist in previous years.