Lauren Snouffer

Recognized for her unique artistic curiosity in world-class performances spanning the music of Claudio Monteverdi and Georg Frideric Handel through to Missy Mazzoli and Sir George Benjamin, American Lauren Snouffer is celebrated as one of the most versatile and respected sopranos on the international stage.

Lauren Snouffer celebrates three high profile role debuts this season: the title role of Debussy’s hallowed Pelléas et Mélisande in a new production at The Dallas Opera directed by Jetske Mijnssen led by Ludovic Morlot, Bess McNeil in Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek’s adaptation of Lars von Trier’s acclaimed feature film Breaking the Waves at the Houston Grand Opera in a production by Tom Morris with Patrick Summers on the podium, and the title role of Handel’s Semele at The Atlanta Opera in a new production staged by General and Artistic Director Tomer Zvulun under the baton of Christine Brandes. No less dynamic is the soprano’s concert calendar of 2024-25, which includes debuts at the at the Salzburg Mozartwoche in a program of Haydn and Mozart conducted by Roberto González- Monjas and with the Bilbao Symphony Orchestra and conductor Elena Schwarz in performances of Hans Abrahamsen’s Let me tell you paired with Mahler’s Fourth Symphony. Further concert performances include Schoenberg’s Second String Quartet with the Telegraph Quartet under the auspices of DaCamera of Houston, Handel’s Alceste with Peter Whelan and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, and Messiah under Patrick Dupré Quigley leading Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and with Scott Hanoian and the Ann Arbor Symphony.

During the past season Lauren Snouffer made a Glyndebourne Festival debut as Pamina in Die Zauberflöte under the baton of Constantin Trinks and she created the principal role of Justine in the world premiere of Mikael Karlsson and Royce Vavrek’s opera Melancholia at the Royal Swedish Opera. On the concert stage, she returned to The Cleveland Orchestra to join Daniel Harding for Mahler’s Fourth Symphony paired with Ces belles années, by Besty Jolas, and gave semi-staged concert performances of Sir George Benjamin’s Written on Skin with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra under the baton of the composer. Additional performances included Stravinsky’s cantata Les Noces with both the Orchestre de Paris and San Francisco Symphony conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen and Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem with the Houston Symphony led by Music Director Juraj Valčuha. An acclaimed artist in music of the Baroque Era, Lauren Snouffer appeared with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Dame Jane Glover in Handel’s Messiah and in Bach’s St. John Passion with the Seattle Symphony under the baton of Nicholas McGegan.

Lauren Snouffer’s concert profile has yielded marvelous results with many of the world’s most distinguished conductors and orchestras including performances with Franz Welser-Möst and The Cleveland Orchestra, Rafaël Pichon and the Handel & Haydn Society, Maasaki Suzuki and the San Francisco Symphony, Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony, Jaap van Zweden and the New York Philharmonic, Alan Gilbert conducting the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, Edo de Waart and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, and with Marin Alsop and the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo.

Operatic performances on leading international stages have fortified the soprano’s place as one of the eminent interpreters of contemporary music; she created the title role in Stefan Wirth’s Girl with a Pearl Earring with Opernhaus Zürich and portrayed the lead role in Hans Abrahamsen’s The Snow Queen at Opera National du Rhin. She assayed the title role of Berg’s Lulu in a new production at the Teatro Municipal de Santiago conducted by Pedro-Pablo Prudencio and directed by Mariame Clément, and returned to Houston Grand Opera for the world premieres of The Phoenix by composer Tarik O’Regan and librettist John Caird and The House Without a Christmas Tree by Ricky Ian Gordon and Royce Vavrek. Closely associated with Sir George Benjamin’s Written on Skin, Lauren Snouffer has performed this compelling opera under the composer’s baton at the Tanglewood Festival of Contemporary Music, with the Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse, and Opera Philadelphia

Further international performances include Die Zauberflöte at the Opernhaus Zürich and Seattle Opera, La clemenza di Tito and Orphée et Eurydice at Lyric Opera of Chicago, Rossini’s Le comte Ory at Seattle Opera and Il barbiere di Siviglia at Austin Opera, Hasse’s Siroe at the Opéra Royal de Versailles, with additional performances in Budapest and Vienna, Xerxes at Detroit Opera, and Monteverdi’s Orfeo with a world premiere orchestration by Nico Muhly at Santa Fe Opera. Past seasons include Houston Grand Opera performances of Dialogues des Carmélites in a production by Francesca Zambello and Le nozze di Figaro conducted by Harry Bicket in a production by Michael Grandage as well as presentations of Carousel, Show Boat, The Rape of Lucretia, and L’italiana in Algeri.

A Grammy Award-nominated artist, her impactful recording catalogue includes Hasse’s Siroe and Handel’s Ottone with George Petrou for Decca, Gottschalk’s Requiem for the Living with Vladimir Lande on Novona Records, Grantham’s La cancíon desesperada conducted by Craig Hella Johnson on Harmonia Mundi, and Feldman’s Rothko Chapel with Steven Schick for ECM.

An alumna of the Houston Grand Opera Studio, Lauren Snouffer was graduated from Rice University and The Juilliard School.