ABOUT
MEET ANNA LAURENZO
Biography
MEZZO ANNA LAURENZO
Praised for her “rich, vibrant tone” (Opera News), mezzo-soprano Anna Laurenzo is a wide-ranging performer known for her “poignancy and realism.” Her passion for contemporary opera and art song permeates her exciting and varied career. Her 2025-26 season includes a return to Chicago Opera Theater for their Shakespeare Sings concert and Salieri’s Falstaff, a return to Brooklyn Art Song Society for Rorem’s Evidence of Things Not Seen, a performance of what has become a signature piece Berlioz’s Les nuits d’ete in New York, and a solo recital of works by French female poets in Chicago with longtime collaborator James Barnett.
In 2024-25, Anna debuted with the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra in Handel’s Messiah and Quad Cities Symphony Orchestra in Mendelssohn’s Ein Sommernachtstraum and returned to Brooklyn Art Song Society to perform DvoÅ™ak’s Biblické písnÄ›. In the 2023-24 season, Anna debuted with the American Lyric Theater in the orchestral workshop of Working for the Macbeths and Opera Festival of Chicago as Second Coryphée/Assassinio nella Cattedrale. She continued her relationship with Brooklyn Art Song Society as a soloist in Les Six and returned to Lincoln Center as a soloist in Marshall Opera’s Oral History Project. The 2022-23 season featured multiple exciting debuts, including her Off-Broadway debut as Mrs. Van Buren in Ricky Ian Gordon’s Intimate Apparel at Lincoln Center. She joined the roster of the Metropolitan Opera for Brett Dean’s Hamlet, made her Asian debut with Musica Viva Hong Kong as Elisabetta/Maria Stuarda, debuted with the Brooklyn Art Song Society in Erwin Schulhoff’s 3 Stimmungsbilder, and debuted with the Carolina Philharmonic in A Night at the Opera.
​
Anna is swiftly becoming known as an impeccable concert and recital soloist. Anna has performed multiple recitals with her frequent collaborators, Shannon McGinnis and Mike Brofman, and has appeared frequently with New Music Chicago, LOFTrecital, the Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago, and the Brooklyn Art Song Society. In 2019, Anna made her Carnegie Hall debut as the soloist in Vivaldi’s Gloria and Haydn’s Mariazeller Mass. She has also performed as the mezzo soloist in Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Berlioz’s Les nuits d’ete, and in Lloyd’s ballet La Malinche.
Noted for her performance of contemporary American works, Anna has collaborated with and performed works by Ricky Ian Gordon, Kamala Sankaram, Shawn Okepebholo, Carlisle Floyd, Cecelia Livingston, David T. Little, and Libby Larsen. She has participated in multiple workshops with American Lyric Theatre and been featured in multiple world premiere productions.
Anna recently performed her signature role of Dorabella/Così fan tutte with the Glacier Symphony and the Metropolitan Opera Guild. Other recent operatic engagements include Pedrillo/Don Quichotte with Haymarket Opera, Ismene/Outcast at the Gate with the Center for Contemporary Opera, Emily/The Ballad of Baby Doe with Central City Opera, and Meg Weathers/Everest and Brother(cover)/The Scarlet Ibis with Chicago Opera Theater.
While an apprentice artist with Fort Worth Opera, Anna performed Mercèdes/Carmen, Alycia Simpson/Voir dire, Undertaker/Buried Alive, and GPS/Embedded, and she covered Rosina/Il barbiere di Siviglia and Jackie Kennedy/JFK. Anna has also bowed as Isabella/L’italiana di Algeri, Olga/Eugene Onegin, Farnace/Mitridate, re di Ponto, Emma Jones/Street Scene, and Paquette/Candide. Her accolades include winning the 2021 Artist Presentation Society Competition, the New York district of the 2018 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and an encouragement award in the 2016 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.
