Erin Lawson, Mezzo-Soprano

Pacific Opera Victoria's The Magic Flute, April 2009

Erin Lawson is participating in Pacific Opera Victoria's Spring 2009 Resident Artist Program and will make her POV mainstage debut as the Third Lady in the April 2009 production of The Magic Flute.

Possessing a “beautiful lyric mezzo-soprano” (Opera Canada), and praised for her “dramatic flare and expressive vocal range” (Kitchener/ Waterloo Record), Erin Lawson is earning notice for performances on opera and concert stages across Canada. A recent member of the Calgary Opera Emerging Artists Program, her engaging stage presence has captivated audiences in repertoire ranging from Handel and Rossini to newly created works.

Recent operatic highlights include debuts with Opera Ontario as Annina in La Traviata, and as Emily in the Canadian premiere of The Ballad of Baby Doe with Calgary Opera. She spent her past summer in the Czech Republic singing Sesto in Handel's Giulio Cesare with the European Music Academy, and the fall touring as Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, in a co-production between Opera de Quebec and Jeunesses Musicales Canada.

Top prize winner of the 2005 Canadian Music Competition, Erin Lawson's growing reputation on the concert stage led to her engagement in the fall of 2006 alongside Isabel Bayrakdarian as a featured artist in recital at the Waterloo Entertainment Centre, where she was noted for her “elegant performing style.” (Kitchener/ Waterloo Record)

A versatile and compelling performer, Erin Lawson created the role of Gwendolyn at the Stratford Festival in Victor Davies' new opera The Importance of Being Earnest. An enthusiastic interpreter of new works, in spring 2008 she performed the role of Mother in the world premier of Allan Gilliland and Val Brandt's Hannaraptor with Calgary Opera's Emerging Artists.

Erin Lawson's concert credits include Handel's Messiah, Vivaldi's Gloria, Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle and Pergolesi's Stabat Mater, as well as appearing as an emerging artist in recital on BRAVO Canada's series The Classical Now. As a chamber recitalist, she has performed Ravel's Chansons Madecasse, Respighi's Il Tramonto, and Chausson's Chanson Perpetuelle. Other opera highlights include Nicklausse in Les Contes D'Hoffman, Hansel in Hansel and Gretel, and Hermia in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream with Opera NUOVA.

Originally from rural Ontario, Ms. Lawson received a Bachelor of Music Degree and an Opera Diploma from Wilfred Laurier University, studying with Kimberly Barber.

March, 2009