Laura Knoop Very

Soprano Laura Knoop Very has performed recitals, opera and oratorio throughout the United States. Her Operatic repertoire includes the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro, the title role of Manon, Antonia in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Vitellia in La Clemenza di Tito, Alma in Lee Hoiby’s Summer and Smoke, Pamina and First Lady in Die Zauberflöte , Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus, and Hanna Glawari in The Merry Widow.  She has appeared with the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Washington National Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Opera Festival of New Jersey, Washington Summer Opera, Opera Theater of Pittsburgh, Mobile Opera, Opera Omaha, Arizona Opera and Eugene Opera.  She has recorded the world premiere of Robert Moran’s The Dracula Diary, and appears with Cecilia Bartoli on London/Decca’s video of La Cenerentola as Clorinda.  

With degrees from the New England Conservatory of Music and the Yale School of Music she continued studies at the Tanglewood Festival, Ravinia Festival and Norfolk Festivals where she honed her recital skills. Operatic training and apprenticeships were completed at Pittsburgh Opera Center, Santa Fe Opera and Houston Grand Opera.  She is a two-time winner of the Richard F. Gold Career Grant from the Shoshana Foundation. 

On the concert stage, she has appeared with the National Symphony, Peabody Symphony, Houston Symphony, Santa Fe Symphony, Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh, Jacksonville Symphony and Milwaulkee Symphony. Her Concert Repertoire includes Handel’s Messiah, Barber’s Knoxville, Summer 1915, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Mozart’s Requiem, Regina Coeli, and Vespers, Mahler’s Symphony No 4, Poulenc’s Gloria and Faure’s Requiem. Ms Very has taught at Point Park’s Conservatory of Theater, Carnegie Mellon School of Music, Opera Theater of Pittsburgh’s Summerfest, and is also currently an Adjunct Professor at Duquesne University. She resides in Forest Hills, Pennsylvania.