Kelsey Lauritano
Mezzo-soprano
© Barbara Aumüller
The Japanese-American mezzo-soprano Kelsey Lauritano left the opera studio to join the Ensemble at Oper Frankfurt in 2020/21. During the 2024/25 season she repeats her wonderful portrayals of Lichas in Handel's Hercules and Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro and sings two new roles: Rosmira and Claudia in new productions of Handel's Partenope and Dittersdorf's Doctor and Pharmacist. Last season she enjoyed great success as Fragoletto in new production of Offenbach's The Bandits and sang Emilia again in the first revival of Rossini's Otello (with 5 tenors!). Roles in previous seasons included the Landlord's Daughter in Humperdinck's Königskinder, a role she sang at the 2021 Tirol Summer Festival in Erl, Dorabella in Così fan tutte, Giovanna in Rigoletto and Suzuki in a new Madama Butterfly, 2nd Lady and Paolo in new productions of Die Zauberflöte and Mercadante's Francesca da Rimini, a Musician in Manon Lescaut and she enjoyed a triumph with the Fox (role debut) in The Cunning Little Vixen. After making her debut in Germany in Frankfurt as the 3rd Dryad in Rusalka she sang Enrichetta di Francia in I puritani and a Spanish woman in Schreker's Der ferne Klang / The Distant Sound (get the CD! - OehmsClassics), Mrs. Nolan in The Medium and in staged performances of Pergolesi's Stabat mater. These were followed by Emilia (role debut) in Rossini's Otello, roles in Martinů's Julietta and Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt – an online evening of Tchaikovsky Lieder (get the DVD!) directed by Christof Loy. Born in San Francisco she graduated from Juillard School in New York with distinction. Whilst still a student she took part in productions including Rameau's Hippolyte et Aricie, Dove's Flight and sang the Child in L’enfant et les sortileges. She also sang Cherubino (role debut) in Le nozze di Figaro at the Music Academy of the West under James Conlon, Venus in Monteverdi's Il ballo delle Ingrate under William Christie and appeared at the Boston Early Music Festival, Virginia Arts Festival, the Opera Theatre of St. Louis, in Alice Tully Hall New York and at the International Meistersinger Academy. She has appeared in concert with the New World Symphony Orchestra, Nürnberg Symphony, at the New York Festival of Song in Lincoln Center and the SongFest in Los Angeles.