Laura Pooley

Laura studied Classics and English at St John’s College, Oxford, where she was awarded the Passmore Edwards Prize. After teaching Latin she studied singing at Trinity College of Music and the Royal College of Music. Laura was about to perform the role of Flora Turn of the Screw for the Benjamin Britten Opera School when she was offered a place in the Welsh National Opera Chorus. For WNO Laura has appeared as First Bridesmaid The Marriage of Figaro, a soloist in the Messiah at St David’s Hall, Frou Frou The Merry Widow and Masha The Queen of Spades. She is a committed soloist for WNO Creative and WNO MAX, for whom she will be the soprano soloist in the newly commissioned A Real Princess in 2010. Opera roles elsewhere include Lucia The Rape of Lucretia, Drusilla L’Incoronazione di Poppea, Nora Riders to the Sea, Micaela Carmen, Woodpecker / Hen / Creature The Cunning Little Vixen. Laura also performs regularly as a concert soloist in Wales and London, including appearances with Cardiff Philharmonic Choir, the Bridgend Male Voice Choir and Dinas Powys Music Festival. She has studied with Laura Sarti since 2007, including masterclasses in Sion, Paris and Lund.