Soprano Laura Soto-Bayomi, originally from New Jersey, is establishing herself as a versatile performer, who strives for honesty on the operatic and concert stages. Laura has been heard at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House, Chautauqua Institution, Beattie-Powers Place, Bard College, Jordan Hall, the Vanderbilt Mansion, Mannes College, the Morgan Library and the Teatro Petrarca in Arezzo, Italy among others.
Laura was the soprano Artist in Residence with Opera Colorado for the 2019-20 season. Laura performed in Rossini's comic masterpiece as Berta in Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House in November 2019.
In addition to performing on the mainstage, Laura performed in Opera Colorado's touring productions as
Gretel in Hansel and Gretel and Micaela in Carmen, bringing opera to Colorado residents,
and introducing children and adults alike to their first opera.
A lover of pasta and travel, Laura was thrilled to spend the 2018 summer season in Italy performing at the Arezzo Opera Festival. Under the baton of Maestro Ari Pelto and the direction of Kristine McIntyre, Laura performed the role of Magda in Puccini's La Rondine at the historic Teatro Petrarca, and additionally
performed a series of concerts around the medieval Italian city.
Laura spent the 2017 summer as an Apprentice Artist with the Chautauqua Opera Company,
where she performed her first Norina in Donizetti's comic masterpiece Don Pasquale directed by David Schweizer and conducted by Steven Osgood. She was a Chautauqua Opera Studio Artist in 2016 and 2015, when she performed Peep Bo in The Mikado, Soprano 1 in Missy Mazzoli’s Song from the Uproar, and sang in the ensembles of La Traviata, Eugene Onegin and Macbeth (3rd Apparition). She was the recipient of an Encouragement Award at the end of the 2015 season, and in 2016 was invited to return as an Apprentice Artist for the following summer season.
In her first year of the Graduate Vocal Arts program at Bard College, led by renowned soprano Dawn Upshaw and collaborative pianist Kayo Iwama, Laura performed the pivotal role of the Governess in The Turn of the Screw, in which she “portrayed a conflicted character with expert conviction.” -The Millbrook Independent.
While at Bard, she performed as the soprano soloist in Mozart’s Requiem under the baton
of Maestro Ádám Fischer and as Eve in Haydn’s Die Schöpfung with Maestro Leon Botstein.
In summer 2013, Laura attended Opera on the Avalon in Newfoundland, Canada
where she performed Second Lady (Die Zauberflöte.) Laura was a New England District Finalist in the 2015 Metropolitan National Council Auditions and a finalist in the NJ State Opera “Silipigni” Vocal Competition in 2014.
Laura received her Bachelor of Music degree from New England Conservatory of Music in 2013 where she first began study with her present teacher, Patricia Misslin. She performed as the soprano soloist in De Falla’s El Sombrero de Tres Picos (The Three-Cornered Hat) with guest conductor Steven Lipsitt. Laura also performed selections from Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn with the New England Conservatory Symphony under the direction of Hugh Wolff in Jordan Hall. Laura was seen as Rosalinda (Die Fledermaus), Climene (L’Egisto), and Dido (Dido and Aeneas) during her studies at New England Conservatory. In 2012, Laura performed a selection of Italian arias with the Vermont Philharmonic after receiving an award following her studies at the Bel Canto Institute in Florence, Italy.
Laura started performing as a child when she began figure skating competitively. She followed this passion, until she began voice and piano lessons, and enrolled at Mannes Preparatory to study voice, flute and piccolo with Mary Barto.
She has performed in many musicals, her favorites including Beauty and the Beast (Belle),
Guys and Dolls (Sarah Brown), and Hello, Dolly! (Irene Molloy).
