World renowned American soprano Laura Aikin is a familiar presence in the world’s great opera houses and concert halls performing with many of the greatest conductors of our time including Claudio Abbado, Daniel Barenboim, Pierre Boulez, Sylvain Cambreling, William Christie, Christoph von Dohnányi, Daniele Gatti, Michael Gielen, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, René Jacobs, Fabio Luisi, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, Helmuth Rilling, Donald Runnicles, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Markus Stenz and Franz Welser-Möst.
Possessing a range of over three octaves and an arresting stage presence, her repertoire embraces works from the Baroque to the contemporary. In great demand in both Europe and America she began her career as a member of the ensemble at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin (1992-98) where she performed more than 300 times in major roles like Lulu, Königin der Nacht (Die Zauberflöto), Zerbinetta (Ariadne auf Naxos), Amenaide (Tancredi), Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier), Adele (Die Fledermaus), and Zaide.
Miss Aikin has appeared as a concert artist throughout the world with orchestras such as the Dallas, London, San Francisco, Chicago, Vienna, BBC and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras, the Berlin, Munich, Israel and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras, Cleveland Orchestra, Bayerische Rundfunk Orchestra, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Les Arts Florissants, Concerto Köln and Concentus Musicus. The many international festivals in which she has performed include Mostly Mozart Festival in New York, Schleswig-Holstein, Melbourne, Edinburgh, Lucerne, Wiener and Berliner Festwochen. She has performed as a Lied singer in Berlin, Milan, Dresden and Rome, and made her American recital debut in the San Francisco Chamber Music Series.
Her many acclaimed recordings include Beethoven's Christus am Ölberg with Daniel Barenboim on the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's Centennial Edition Recording, Songs and Cycles by Rorem with pianist Donald Sulzen (Orfeo), Schönberg's Die Jakobsleiter with the Südwestfunk Symphony Orchestra, Respighi's La Campagna Sommersa (Montpellier Opera) and a DVD of Lulu (Opernhaus Zurich). Other DVD releases include Henze's L'Upupa, and Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Salzburg Festival) and Les Dialogues des Carmalites (La Scala with Riccardo Muti).