Laura Strickling

Two-time GRAMMY^® award nominee for Best Classical Vocal Solo Album, soprano Laura Strickling was recognized by The New York Times for her, “flexible voice, crystalline diction, and warm presence,” and is celebrated for her work performing and promoting art song, with an emphasis on new additions to the canon. She recently announced the 40@40 Project – her personal initiative to commission new songs – and has been featured twice in Classical Singer Magazine for her advocacy work around commissioning and recording new music.

Equally acclaimed for her work on the concert stage, her “powerful and expressive voice across a large range, her variety of timbre and character,” (Classical Scene), make her a welcome guest soloist for a range of oratorio and concert works, from Handel to Britten and beyond. These include Mahler’s Fourth Symphony with the San Antonio Philharmonic and the Knoxville Symphony, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Seattle Symphony and the Elgin Symphony, Bachianas Brazileiras (Villa-Lobos) with the San Antonio Philharmonic, Messiah (Handel) with the Indianapolis Symphony, the Pacific Symphony, and the Richmond Symphony, Gloria (Poulenc) with the Asheville Symphony, Mass in c minor (Mozart) with the Richmond Symphony, Cathedral Choral Society, and Berkshire Choral International, Knoxville: Summer of 1915 (Barber) with the Norwalk Symphony Orchestra and Mexicoliederfest, Stabat Mater (Dvorak) and Elijah (Mendelssohn) with Berkshire Choral International, Missa O Pulchritudo (Menotti) and Ein Deutsches Requiem (Brahms) with the Bel Canto Chorus of Milwaukee, Luonnotar (Sibelius) and Les Illuminations (Britten) with the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, and Les Illuminations (Britten) with Mexicoliederfest, and Pierrot Lunaire (Schoenberg) with the Chiarina Chamber Players and the Mid-Atlantic Reed Consort.

Ms. Strickling is also known for her work in new opera, having created the role of Fanni Radnòti in the world premiere of Tom Cipullo’s opera The Parting with Music of Remembrance in Seattle and San Francisco in 2019. She revisited the role with Chelsea Opera in New York City and Syracuse. She created the role of the evil Dr. Slade in the nine-episode filmed opera, Everything for Dawn with Experiments in Opera, which received its AllArts and Opera Philadelpha broadcast premiere in 2022.

Ms. Strickling received GRAMMY^® award nominations and widespread critical acclaim for her solo albums, 40@40 (2024) and Confessions (2022): “…a compellingly honest performer, whose rich, expressive soprano conveys vulnerability with a balance of shimmering tone and unaffected diction,” (Opera News Magazine). She was praised for the Naxos Opera Classics recording of The Parting by Tom Cipullo, “…deeply expressive, secure voice. Her exposed highs are managed wonderfully, with notable beauty,” (San Francisco Classical Voice).

A Chicago native, Ms. Strickling is an avid traveler, having lived in Morocco – where she studied classical Arabic at the Arabic Language Institute of Fez, Kabul (Afghanistan) – where her husband was the founding chair of the Department of Law at the American University of Afghanistan, and for the last nine years in St. Thomas (U.S. Virgin Islands). She recently relocated to Wisconsin where she is learning to appreciate cheese, beer, and being cold. www.laurastrickling.com