Hailed as “a compelling singer and actor” (LA Times) with a "rich, attractive, plush sound" (Washington Times), and  “flirtatious, sensual, sympathetic, full of fire and stellar in her vocal performance" (Daze Magazine, Canada), Puerto Rican mezzo-soprano and Helen Hayes Award Winner Laura Virella was most recently engaged as Frida in the world premiere of El último sueño de Frida y Diego by Grammy Award-winning composer Gabriela Lena Frank and Pulitzer Prize librettist Nilo Cruz, in a co-production of San Diego Opera and San Francisco Opera. 2022 also included a reprise of Robert Xavier Rodríguez's Frida with Detroit Opera and El Paso Opera, and her debut as Mari Pepa in the zarzuela Revoltosa with GALA Hispanic Theatre, for which she was nominated for the Outstanding Lead Performer in a Musical Helen Hayes Award.

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It's the second time Virella has been recognized for her zarzuela work in DC. In 2012, she was nominated for Best Actress in Opera by the DC Theatre Scene Awards for her portrayal of Luisa Fernanda, winning second place to international star Patricia Racette. 

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The mezzo-soprano has always been interested in nuance, the way stories are told and by whom—an interest that draws her to characters as well as meaningful chamber music, themed and interdisciplinary recital collaborations, and the unique sense of adventure in discovering previously overlooked or newly written works.

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In chamber music, she appeared with the Baroque-inspired ensemble Consortium in the world premiere of ¡Víctor, Catarina! by Gilbert Galindo – a piece set to words of praise for Catherine of Alexandria by Baroque Mexican nun Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, mostly known for her mystical poetry. She has also appeared in concert with ArtsAhimsa in the New York premiere of Homesick by David Karp and ¿Cómo he de irme? by Jack Délano.

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In the world of contemporary chamber and experimental opera, she embodied Alicia in the New York premiere of Laura Kaminsky, Marc Campbell and Kimberly Reed's Some Light Emerges, participated in the New York premiere of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Edmund Cionek, and has been an avid collaborator at The American Opera Project, workshopping Ellis Ludwig-Leone‘s The Night Falls and recently joining the cast and production team of Pete Wyer and Melissa Salmon's immersive theatrical experience Ga Sho, a powerful piece originally commissioned by the Royal Opera House that has since morphed and expanded into new performance practices to tell the moving story of the Drapchi nuns.

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Her voice is featured in the Puerto Rican award-winning short film Dream of Vermilion, for which she composed the theme song “Época de grito.” This and her debut album of songs by Ukrainian-born Puerto Rican composer Jack Délano, Al menos cantos (Lexicon Classics), are currently available on all major streaming platforms worldwide.

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Professional principal-artist affiliations include San Diego Opera, El Paso Opera, Detroit Opera, Long Beach Opera, the Phoenicia International Festival of the Voice, Carnegie Hall, Mercury Opera, Festival de Santa Florentina (Barcelona), Theater Rudolstadt, Ópera de Puerto Rico, Wolf Trap Opera, Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra, Stefaniensaal in Graz, Dicapo Opera and the Queens New Music Festival.

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She’s a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music, the Peabody Conservatory and an alumna of the Coro de Niños de San Juan.

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