Praised for her captivating stage presence, “full bodied” (Indie Opera) and “nuanced voice” (Boston Musical Intelligencer), mezzo-soprano Lauren Cook is quickly establishing a name for herself in repertoire ranging from Monteverdi to Mazzoli.
In 2021, Cook made her company debuts with Virginia Opera performing Wellgunde in Das Rheingold, Opera Saratoga performing Antonia in Man of La Mancha, and Painted Sky Opera performing Hannah After in the Oklahoma Premiere of Laura Kaminsky’s As One, where she received an award for “Best Performer in a Professional Streaming Musical”. Cook starts off 2022 performing Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro with Virginia Opera, which will be followed by her company debut with OperaDelaware, in the same role.
Other notable stage credits include Poppea (L’incoronazione di Poppea), Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Scalia-Ginsburg), Blanche de la Force (Dialogues of the Carmelites), Mélisande (Impressions de Pelléas), Tisbe (La Cenerentola), Camacho (Don Quichotte at Camacho’s Wedding), and Second Lady (The Magic Flute). Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Cook was scheduled to sing The Mother in Madama Butterfly with Opera Philadelphia, as well as Edith in Pirates of Penzance with Opera Saratoga. Cook has appeared with Opera Philadelphia, Des Moines Metro Opera, Opera Naples, Opera Iowa, Opera Company of Middlebury, Opera Louisiane, Guérilla Opera, Odyssey Opera, Seagle Festival, and the Louisiana Opera Outreach Program. Cook has performed as a soloist in Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center, and Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, and was a featured soloist in Boston Symphony Hall at a gala hosted by Alan Cumming.
As a contemporary repertoire advocate, Cook was most recently seen performing Edwin the Avatar/Eddie in the film version of Frances Pollock’s Earth to Kenzie with Virginia Opera. Other recording projects include the workshop and premiere recording of The Leopard (Dellaira) as the role of Angelica with American Opera Projects, the premiere recording of The Wake World (Hertzberg) with Opera Philadelphia, a recording of Haroun and the Sea of Stories (Wuorinen) with Boston Modern Orchestra Projects, and a recording with Opera Philadelphia of Daniel Belquer’s piece Religare Resonare, composed specifically for use with Vibrotextile wearable technology by Music: Not Impossible Labs.
Cook has premiered many works including Molly Joyce’s Our Way of Being Small in the World with Fresh Squeezed Opera, Evan Mack’s Roscoe with Seagle Festival, and The Desert, Lazy Citizen, War is a Racket, and Malice in the Palace, all in collaboration with Guerilla Opera. Prior to the pandemic, Cook was scheduled to perform Elder #2 in the NY Premiere of Lembit Beecher’s Sky on Swings with Opera Saratoga. She has also created many roles in workshops of up-and-coming operas such as LeAnn in Missy Mazzoli’s The Listeners, with Opera Philadelphia, Aphrodite in a pre-workshop of Permadeath (Visconti) in association with Friends of Madame White Snake, and Sharon in a workshop and performance of Richard Wargo’s Sharon’s Grave with Seagle Festival.
