Biography
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.
This season, Ms. Decker makes her European debut with Deutsche Oper Berlin. Roles there include Erda, Schwertleite, and covering 1st Norn in Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle; Mary in Der fliegende Holländer; Third Lady in Die Zauberflöte; Mamma Lucia in Cavalleria rusticana; La Badessa in Suor Angelica; covering Frugola in Il Tabarro; and covering Zita in Gianni Schicchi.
Ms. Decker’s 2022/23 season featured her in 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.
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Reviews
“When contralto Lauren Decker sings her solo we feel so much primal energy that we wonder if a seismograph is registering the performance too.”
“No matter: the instrument of third-year Ryan Opera Center contralto Lauren Decker is beginning to fulfill its promise of volume, range, and drama. Her alloyed tone penetrated through the chorus, orchestra, audience, and probably beyond the church walls out to Roosevelt Road.
More Reviews
“When contralto Lauren Decker sings her solo we feel so much primal energy that we wonder if a seismograph is registering the performance too.”
“No matter: the instrument of third-year Ryan Opera Center contralto Lauren Decker is beginning to fulfill its promise of volume, range, and drama. Her alloyed tone penetrated through the chorus, orchestra, audience, and probably beyond the church walls out to Roosevelt Road.”
“Contralto Lauren Decker, a member of Lyric’s Ryan Opera Center, expressed grief in amber low notes as Smeaton, the queen’s page.”
“The women of this cast did quite well by Menotti’s score, contralto Lauren Decker offering throaty low notes, ample bloom up top and voluptuousness of timbre throughout as Miss Todd.“
“I was shocked by the size and beauty of Lauren Decker’s contralto as perhaps the most effective Inez of my experience. I had heard Ms. Decker previously in several smaller roles at Lyric, but here she makes a major step forward.”
“Now I’d like to talk about contralto Lauren Decker, In recent seasons, I’ve heard her make small roles stand out – the best Annina in Traviata and Inez in Trovatore in my experience, pouring out dark, chocolatey sound with a plushness of tone and amplitude of voice rarely heard in a young singer. And here, in the concert, she was again stunning as Princess de Bouillon in the act two duet “Non risponde” from Adriana Lecouvreur, dramatically stirring with remarkable high and low notes.”
