Currently specializing in college and competition audition preparation and advanced vocal technique.
Mezzo soprano Laura Angus Yount received her bachelors and master’s degrees in Music from the University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music where she was the student of John Maloy. Additionally she has studied with notable teacher/performers Elsa Baklor, Jan DeGaetani, Julius Huehn, Anna Kaskas, Heinz Refuss and Frances Yeend. She was a graduate fellow at Eastman as well as a recipient of the coveted Performer’s Certificate for excellence in performance.
She has performed with regional opera companies in the East and Midwest, including St. Paul Opera, Chautauqua Opera Association, and Rochester’s Opera Under the Stars. Her opera experience has been diverse, including leading roles in Britten’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, Janacek’s Katja Kabanowa, Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, Verdi’s Falstaff, and Robert Ward’s The Crucible.
At 17 Laura Yount was the youngest member of the Philadelphia Oratorio Choir where she developed a great love of the genre. Her orchestral performances include Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, Braham’s Alto Rhapsody, Vaughn Williams’s Five Mystical Songs, Serenade to Music, and Magnificat, Handel’s Messiah, and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. She has performed as the alto soloist with the Messiah Choral Society of Orlando in their annual Messiah performance at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre.
Mrs. Yount has previously taught voice at the Eastman School of Music Community Music School, Kentucky Wesleyan College, Rollins College, the University of Central Florida, Seminole University and Reformation Bible College. She currently maintains a private studio in Lake Mary, Florida. She is a member of Sigma Alpha Iota International Fraternity and the National Association of Teachers of Singing and adjudicates vocal auditions and competitions annually.
“My principal focus is to develop to its fullest potential a reliable breathing technique which is fundamental to all other vocal techniques. If you cannot breathe well and properly, you cannot sing and execute the more complex necessities of vocal performance. I have been able to help students just beginning their vocal study by giving them a healthy, solid foundation, and assist more advanced students and professionals, in sharpening their technical skills.”