Collegiate Affiliation

Lara Bolton is a collaborative pianist, vocal coach, and arranger. Her work spans many different genres, including classical, rock, jazz, and musical theatre, and she is particularly drawn towards socially relevant projects. She is on faculty at the University of Minnesota as a vocal coach, is head of music for Mill City Summer Opera, music director of Arbeit Opera, and a master coach for Minnesota Opera. She also maintains an active recording and concert career. Other opera and theater affiliations include the Guthrie Theater, Jungle Theater, San Francisco Opera, Washington National Opera, Out of the Box Opera, San Diego Opera, Seattle Opera, Chicago Opera Theater, Opera Santa Barbara, West Bay Opera, Opera Colorado, and Amarillo Opera.

Ms. Bolton is a former San Francisco Opera Adler Fellow and has been a Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist for the Washington National Opera. She also helped develop a Young Artist Program for Opera Santa Barbara. In addition to having been a pianist for the Merola Opera Program, she has also worked at the Music Academy of the West, Brevard Music Festival, and Interlochen Arts Camp. As an alumna of Interlochen Arts Academy, she received a Bachelor of Music Theory degree from the University of Michigan and a Master of Music in Collaborative Piano from the University of Maryland-College Park.