Known for her powerhouse vocals across operatic, musical theater, and choral genres, young dramatic soprano Lauren Russell serves as a Resident Artist with Opera Carolina and performs in regular solo engagements with other regional organizations, including the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra (Summer Pops in the Park), the Winston-Salem Symphony (Handel’s Messiah), and the Charlotte Master Chorale (Craig Hella Johnson’s Considering Matthew Shepard and Robert Ray’s Gospel Mass), in addition to originating the role of Robert’s mother in the new musical, Robert Smalls. With Opera Carolina, Lauren has played the roles of Toledo (cover) and Doctor 6 in Redler’s The Falling and the Rising, Dr. Stone in Menotti’s Help! Help! The Globolinks!, Papagena and Second Lady in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, and Witch in Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel.
Lauren holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Vocal Performance from Wingate University. She placed in the 2022 Quarterfinals of the National NATS Competition and was named the first mezzo-soprano in Charlotte Bach Amademie’s Vocal Fellows Program. She currently makes her home in Charlotte, where she studies with Melinda Whittington, and will soon appear in Opera Carolina’s productions ofPorgy & Bess and La Traviata.
