Laura Strickling & Joy Schreier
Biographie Laura Strickling & Joy Schreier
Laura Strickling
Two-time GRAMMY® award nominee for Best Classical Vocal Solo Album for 40@40 (2024) and Confessions (2022), soprano Laura Strickling was recognized by The New York Times for her, “flexible voice, crystalline diction, and warm presence.” Celebrated for her work performing and promoting art song, with an emphasis on new additions to the canon through her landmark 40@40 Project song commissioning initiative, she is the host of SongCycle – a podcast covering all things song, curated The NewMusicShelf Soprano Anthology, and has performed recitals and presented masterclasses and lectures with art song and chamber music organizations, music festivals, and universities around the world. She created the roles of Fanni Radnòti in the world premiere of Tom Cipullo’s opera The Parting with Music of Remembrance and the evil Dr. Slade in the serial television-style opera film, Everything for Dawn with Experiments in Opera.
Her, “powerful and expressive voice across a large range, her variety of timbre and character,” (Classical Scene), make her a welcome guest soloist for oratorio, concert, and chamber works – from Bach to Britten and beyond. Her solo appearances include Petite messe solennelle(Rossini) at Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s May Festival, Fourth Symphony (Mahler) with Knoxville Symphony, San Antonio Philharmonic, and Rockford Symphony, Peer Gynt (Grieg) with Elgin Symphony, Ninth Symphony (Beethoven) with the Seattle Symphony, Knoxville Symphony, and Elgin Symphony, Petite Messe Solennelle (Rossini) with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra May Festival, Bachianas Brazileiras(Villa-Lobos) with the San Antonio Philharmonic, Messiah (Handel) with the Indianapolis Symphony, Pacific Symphony, Richmond Symphony, Knoxville Symphony, and Syracuse Symphony, Gloria (Poulenc) with Asheville Symphony, Requiem (Fauré) with Elgin Symphony, Mass in c minor (Mozart) with Richmond Symphony, Cathedral Choral Society, and Berkshire Choral International, Knoxville: Summer of 1915 (Barber) with Norwalk Symphony and Mexicoliederfest, Exsultate, jubilate (Mozart) with Cathedral Choral Society, Marietta’s Lied (Korngold) with the String Orchestra of Brooklyn, Luonnotar (Sibelius) and Les Illuminations (Britten) with the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, and Pierrot Lunaire (Schoenberg) with the Chiarina Chamber Players and Picosa.
Joy Schreier
GRAMMY®-nominated pianist Joy Schreier is a sought-after collaborative pianist and vocal coach. She serves on the music staff of the Washington National Opera and as Assistant Conductor and pianist of the Cathedral Choral Society, the symphonic chorus in residence at the Washington National Cathedral. At WNO, Schreier has assisted on the world premiere of Grounded as well as recent productions of Aida, Porgy and Bess, Turandot, La Bohème, Fidelio, and Il Trovatore.
Schreier has been presented in recital at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Merkin Hall, the White House, and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Recent performances include recitals with soprano Renée Fleming, Denyce Graves, and violinist Pinchas Zukerman. Additional engagements include a sold-out Carnegie Hall debut at Weill Recital Hall and a recital series with mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard for the Marilyn Horne Foundation.
A highly sought-after vocal coach, Schreier prepared Ms. Fleming for the world premiere of Kevin Puts’ The Hours at The Metropolitan Opera, as well as Nixon in China at Opéra National de Paris. She is a former faculty coach in the opera department at the Peabody Conservatory and regularly coaches for the Denyce Graves Foundation as part of its Shared Voices Program.
Schreier received wide-spread critical acclaim for Confessions, her Grammy-nominated 2020 CD release with soprano Laura Strickling. For that release, Opera News describes Schreier as a “superbly emotive pianist that wrings every nuance out,” while Schmopera calls her “an indispensable accompanist… either preternaturally intuitive or possessing perfect communication—perhaps a bit of both.”
An avid art song recitalist, Schreier serves as official pianist of the Washington International Voice Competition at the Kennedy Center. She received her Doctorate in Collaborative Piano from the Eastman School of Music under Dr. Jean Barr, where she was the recipient of the Barbara Koeng Award for Excellence in Vocal Accompanying and the piano prize in the Jessie Kneisel German Lieder competition.
