Laura L. Aikin, BFA '86, of Basiglio, Italy

Internationally acclaimed soprano and Clarence native Laura Aikin was discovered at 15 by Jay Anstee, a voice master's student at the University at Buffalo, while Aikin was auditioning for a school musical. Anstee introduced her to UB professor Gary Burgess, who was her voice teacher for the next seven years.

She enrolled at UB as a music education and voice major, where she performed frequently and at every opportunity, learning not only the art of singing, but also theater craft and acting while performing with the Opera Workshop. It was also at UB that Aikin began developing her interest in contemporary music, working closely with the composition department. After earning her degree with honors, she spent the next three years at Indiana University, working with Margaret Harshaw, an American soprano and mezzo-soprano who was best known as a Wagnerian singer. Upon graduation from IU, a prestigious DAAD grant (Deutsche Akademischeaustauschdienst) led her to Munich, where she studied for an additional two years at the Hochschule fur Musik.

In Germany she auditioned for and received a four-year contract with the German State Opera, where her career took off. She was a frequent guest at the world's leading opera houses including the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, the Wienerstaatsoper, L'Opéra National dc Paris and the San Francisco Opera.

With a repertoire that embraces works from the Baroque to the contemporary, she also performs regularly with the greatest orchestras and conductors of our time. Her striking stage presence and three-octave range combine to make her one of the top performers within the current generation of international soprano talent.

Highlights of her career include a command performance in Rome for the one-year anniversary of the papacy of Pope Benedict, which was televised worldwide, and currently performing Alban Berg's masterpiece, Lulu, at La Scala. Although she enjoys international fame and makes her home in Italy, Aikin still manages a yearly visit back to Western New York. She has not forgotten UB, returning regularly here as a performer (most recently in 2007) and an educator, teaching masters' classes open to students and the public.