SECOND STAGE: Laura Morales Guirales, soprano | En los surcos del amor II: Raíces y resonancias | Graduating Student Project

En los surcos del amor II: raíces y resonancias

This recital is, above all, a journey—my journey.

It begins in Valledupar, Colombia, where I grew up surrounded by vallenato. In that context, music was never something distant or formal; it was part of everyday life. It lived in stories, in gatherings, in the landscape, and in the voices of the people around me. I didn’t think of it as something separate from my musical identity—it was simply the way I learned to listen, to feel, and to understand sound.

Years later, I found myself in a very different world, studying and performing classical music in another country. There, I encountered a new set of tools: technique, structure, repertoire, and a long-standing tradition that shaped how the voice is trained and understood. At first, these worlds felt distant from each other. Over time, however, I began to understand that they were not in opposition, but in dialogue.

This program lives within that space.

It opens with Lori Laitman’s Orange Afternoon Lover, a work that moves fluidly between speech and song. Its fragmented structure and introspective text create an intimate atmosphere, where observation and emotion coexist. In performing this piece, I enter a space of awareness—one that does not seek resolution, but instead allows for questioning and reflection.

From there, “Caro nome” from Rigoletto offers a contrasting perspective. Here, I engage with a vocal language shaped by lyricism, clarity, and formal balance. The aria presents a sense of innocence and idealized emotion, framed within a carefully constructed musical line.

That sense of structure begins to shift in Irma Urteaga’s Existenciales. These songs introduce a more unsettled and questioning perspective. “Cuadrados y ángulos” suggests rigidity and constraint, “Hombre” moves toward vulnerability and direct address, and “La garra blanca” enters a more surreal and abstract emotional space. Together, they reflect a moment in which certainty gives way to complexity.

Following the intermission, Schubert’s Der Hirt auf dem Felsen expands the sonic landscape through its dialogue between voice and clarinet. The work moves between solitude, longing, and a more open sense of hope, offering a broader and more expansive emotional space.

Donizetti’s “Regnava nel silenzio… Quando rapito in estasi” continues this exploration of contrast. The transition from the introspective opening to the virtuosic cabaletta reflects a shift from inward reflection to outward expression, highlighting the dramatic possibilities of the voice.

The recital concludes with a set of vallenato songs—Paisaje de sol, Nació mi poesía, and Compai Chipuco. In these works, I return to a musical language that is deeply connected to my upbringing. Through their focus on storytelling, landscape, and community, these songs bring together poetry and lived experience in a direct and immediate way.

Ending the program in this space is both an artistic and personal decision.

After moving through different traditions and ways of singing, what remains is not a division between them, but a sense of integration. The voice becomes a place where these experiences coexist.

In that sense, this recital is not only a presentation of repertoire, but a reflection of an ongoing process—one in which identity continues to be shaped, questioned, and redefined through sound.

A native of Valledupar, Colombia, Laura Morales is a soprano currently completing her Master of Music in Vocal Studies (2026) at Longy School of Music of Bard College (Cambridge, Massachusetts), where she studies under Carol Mastrodomenico. She holds a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance (2020) from EAFIT University (Medellín, Colombia), where she studied with Eliana Piedrahita. In addition, she earned a graduate degree in Cultural Management and Administration (cum laude, 2023) and a master’s degree in Cultural Management (2024) from Universidad del Rosario (Bogotá, Colombia).

In 2017, Morales attended the Global Summer Institute of Music (GSIM) in Richmond, Virginia, as a scholarship recipient, where she studied with Anne-Carolyn Bird and GQ Wang and performed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. In Fall 2019, she completed an academic exchange at the University of North Alabama, studying with Dr. Gretchen Windt. She has also participated in masterclasses with Alejandro Roca, Juanita Lascarro, Valeriano Lanchas, Marilyn Viloria, among others, and has received coaching from Cynthia Lawrence and Angelique Clay.

Morales was a member of the Cecilia Espinosa Chamber Choir (2018–2024), performing in national and international festivals, including the Certamen Internacional de Habaneras y Polifonía de Torrevieja (2019, Torrevieja, Spain) and the UNESCO International Day of Peace celebration (2022, Tolosa, Spain). She has appeared in venues such as the Basílica de la Sagrada Familia (Barcelona, Spain) and has performed under the baton of Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Roberto González-Monjas, Francisco Rettig, and Ian Loeppky.

As a soloist, Morales has performed with the Fundación Filarmónica del Cesar on numerous occasions and was a featured soloist with the Orquesta de Cámara de Barranquilla (2021). Her recent appearances include Vivaldi’s Gloria (“Laudamus te,” 2022) with the EAFIT University Choir and Symphony Orchestra, and La voce totale (2025) at Longy School of Music with the Longy Conservatory Orchestra.

Her operatic roles include Monica in The Medium (Menotti), Miss Jessel in The Turn of the Screw (Britten), Nella in Gianni Schicchi (Puccini), and The Butterfly in Solomon and Balkis. In 2022, she made her debut at the Teatro Colón de Bogotá as Papagena in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte with the Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotá. She has also performed as a chorister in La Traviata (2023) and Tosca (2024) with the Orquesta Filarmónica de Medellín, both under the baton of Andrés Orozco-Estrada. Morales is a founding member of Ópera Estudio de Medellín, a collective dedicated to promoting operatic repertoire through staged productions.

Alongside her performance career, Morales is an active cultural manager, collaborating with organizations such as the Estudio Polifónico de Medellín and the Fundación Filarmónica del Cesar in the development, implementation, and coordination of musical and educational projects. She was among the 15 finalists of the Alltech Scholarship Vocal Competition (2022, Lexington, Kentucky) and advanced at the district level of the Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition (2026, South America Region – Colombia District).