Arizona Opera Cast Members & Creatives

A 2019 Richard Tucker Foundation career grant recipient, American soprano Laura Wilde has been praised by Opera News for having “a ravishingly beautiful sound, [and] a fine sense of style and character.”

In the 2020/21 Season, Wilde makes house debuts at Seattle Opera as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni and at Chicago Opera Theatre as Phyllis in the world premiere of Matthew Recio’s The Puppy Episode. She was also scheduled to make house debuts at the Metropolitan Opera as the Guardian of the Threshold in Die Frau ohne Schatten and at Washington National Opera as Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, and in concert, to sing Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra.

In the 2019/20 Season, Wilde returned to Staatstheater Stuttgart as Agathe in Der Freischütz and to Arizona Opera as Mamah Cheney in the world premiere of Daron Hagen’s Shining Brow. Previously scheduled engagements included a return to Lyric Opera of Chicago as Sieglinde in Die Walküre as well as Freia, Ortlinde, and the Third Norn for the full Ring Cycle under the baton of Sir Andrew Davis, her role debut as Marguerite in Faust at Staatstheater Stuttgart, and her role debut as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni at the Berkshire Opera Festival. In concert, she made her Australian debut as Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel with Sir Andrew Davis and the Melbourne Symphony, and gave a solo recital with Craig Terry at the Marcus Center in Milwaukee.

Highlights of recent seasons include the title role in Janáček’s Jenůfa at both Santa Fe Opera and English National Opera; Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte and Agathe at Staatstheater Stuttgart; the title role of Káťa Kabanová at Scottish Opera; Freia in Das Rheingold as well as Ortlinde and the cover of Sieglinde in Die Walküre, in David Pountney’s new Ring Cycle conducted by Sir Andrew Davis at Lyric Opera of Chicago; Gretel with Sir Andrew Davis at the Edinburgh Festival; Laura in Korngold’s rarely performed one-act opera Der Ring des Polykrates at Dallas Opera; Micaëla in Carmen at Nashville Opera; Vitellia in La clemenza di Tito at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis; Jane Withersteen in the world premiere of Craig Bohmler’s Riders of the Purple Sage as well as Freia at Arizona Opera; and the Foreign Princess in Rusalka at Des Moines Metro Opera.

In concert, Wilde has shared the stage with mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe and baritone Quinn Kelsey in the inaugural season of the Beyond the Aria recital series at Chicago’s Harris Theater, accompanied by Craig Terry. She has presented a solo recital and masterclass at South Dakota State University, also with Craig Terry, and sung Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Charlotte Symphony and Strauss’ Vier letzte Lieder with the Elgin Symphony in Illinois. In the summer of 2015, Wilde sang the role of Lucy in Grant Park Music Festival’s concert performance of Menotti’s The Telephone.

As a member of the Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Wilde covered Renée Fleming in Capriccio and the role of Marta in Weinberg’s The Passenger, and both performed Marianne Leitmetzerin and covered the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier. She also covered the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro and Hanna in The Merry Widow, and sang the role of Anna in Nabucco. Additioanlly, she appeared on the mainstage as Kate Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly and a Flower Maiden in Parsifal, and covered the roles of Berta in Il barbiere di Siviglia, the Foreign Princess in Rusalka, and Vitellia in La clemenza di Tito.

Originally from Watertown, South Dakota, Wilde’s love of music began with the trumpet. While attending the prestigious Interlochen Arts Camp as a trumpet player, she discovered her classical voice and was encouraged to pursue that musical avenue as well. She attended St. Olaf College for her undergraduate degree, focusing first on trumpet performance. Singing, however, became her true musical passion, and she graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance. Wilde earned her Master of Music degree from Indiana University, where she studied with Costanza Cuccaro. She is a winner of the 2018 Mabel Dorn Reeder Foundation Award from Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, the 2017 Sullivan Grant award, the 2016 Sara Tucker Study Grant from the Richard Tucker Foundation, the 2016 Luminarts Women’s Voice Fellowship, the 2015 Jerome and Elaine Nerenberg Award, and the 2015 Musicians Club of Women Eleanor Pearce Sherwin Award from the American Opera Society of Chicago. She currently resides in Chicago.