Laura Pritchard, mezzo-soprano, joined the School of Music faculty in the Fall of 2022 as Instructor of Voice and Associate Director of Opera. She works actively as a soloist, teacher, and director. Laura has received national recognition by The American Prize as a Semi-Finalist in the Art Song & Oratorio division and recognition by the Alabama Chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing as a First-Place winner in the Advanced Classical Voice division.

Laura has performed numerous roles including Florence Pike in Albert Herring, Maurya in Riders to the Sea, Carmen in Carmen, Giannetta in The Elixir of Love, Seconda Sorella Cercatrice in Suor Angelica, and Zita in Gianni Schicchi. Most recently, she has been seen as Sally in A Hand of Bridge, The Bride in Adamo’s Avow, Prince Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus, and Third Lady in Die Zauberflöte with The University of Alabama Opera Theatre. Since her professional debut in 2013, Dr. Pritchard has performed on stages including Asheville Lyric Opera and Opera Birmingham. In 2019, Laura made her international debut in The Crucible with Berlin Opera Academy. Along with the operatic stage, Dr. Pritchard is a sought after soloist on the concert stage. She has performed as the alto soloist in various concert settings including Manassas Chorale and Orchestra’s performance of Handel’s Messiah, Prentice Concert Chorale and Orchestra’s performances of Judas Maccabaeus and Messiah, and Johnson City Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy.

In addition to performing, Laura is passionate about stage direction. In March 2022, she was a stage director for UA Opera Theatre’s production of Scenic Ventures: Secrets and Rumors. Dr. Pritchard spent the summer of 2022 in Wichita Falls, Texas where she was the Associate Director and Stage Manager for Red River Lyric Opera’s production of Le Nozze di Figaro.

As an avid researcher in opera and pedagogy, Laura presented her research Broadening Our Scope in 2021: A Collection of Scenes from the Operas of Carlisle Floyd at the National Opera Association annual conference. In 2022, she presented again with her dissertation research titled Operatic Adaptations of Émile Zola’s Thérèse Raquin: A Comparative Study and Analysis at both the conferences of the National Opera Association and the Association Internationale Zola et Naturalisme (AIZEN). In June of 2022, Laura was invited to present her research titled Neurodegenerative Diseases and the Singer: An Introductory Study of Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s Disease, and Huntington’s Disease including Music Therapy Protocols for the singing teacher at The Voice Foundation’s Annual Symposium and plans to take her research there soon. Dr. Pritchard received her Master of Music degree in Voice Performance from Shenandoah Conservatory and her Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Alabama where she was a student of Dr. Susan Williams. She has taught previously at Judson College in Marion, Alabama.