Lea Peterson is a Boston-based singer, music director, vocal arranger, and voice teacher. As a classically trained mezzo-soprano Lea has an active soloist and ensemble career as well as being a sought-after private voice coach, teaching artist, and music director. Lea's breadth of technical, historical, and musical knowledge allows her to work in myraid settings, genres, and roles. From premiering turn of the century, high-romantic works by Ukrainian composer Stefania Turkewich at Pickman Recital Hall, to music directing the revival of Greater Boston Stage Company's Elliot Norton Award winning All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914, to teaching musical theatre performance at Bridgewater State University, Lea brings passion and expertise to all her work.
Lea is currently the alto soloist at Hancock United in Lexington and previously sang at Christ Church Needham where she also revitalized the youth choir, functioning as its music director and conductor. She has sung with Ensemble Lyrae, the Pandora Consort, Et Al., Songful Artists, Ensemble Uncaged, Voices of Zion, Sharing a New Song, A Joyful Noyse, and many other groups across New England. Some of Lea's
current projects include The Witching Hour, a program of treble vocal music and spoken word poetry, which has been performed at Boston's SoHIP festival as well as the NYS Baroque and Pegasus Rising concert series; serving as vocal coach to an up and coming gospel recording artist as well as providing background vocals for her debut album (details yet to be public); and music directing The Cambridge School of Weston's spring production -- The Prom.
As a private teacher Lea maintains a voice studio in Somerville where she teachers students 15+, always prioritizing healthy vocal technique and pedagogical knowledge. Lea is also a highly regarded workshop leader and group coach, often being invited into high schools, colleges, and community choirs to lend her expertise in regards to ensemble music making, vocal arranging, and conducting. She was previously the choral director at Boston Latin Academy and has worked as a visiting accompanist and music director at Bridgewater State University. Utilizing her musical talent alongside her background in theatre, Lea has worked on musical theatre productions at The Winsor School, Roxbury Latin, The Performing Arts Connection, The Cambridge School of Weston, Greater Boston Stage Company, Boston Children's Theatre, and many other excellent education institutions.
Lea completed her M.M. in Vocal Studies at Longy School of Music of Bard College with a 4.0 GPA under studio teacher Pamela Dellal. She previously earned a B.A. in Music from Skidmore College, graduating summa cum laude with Honors in Music after only 3 years. She studied with soprano Sylvia Stoner-Hawkins and took notable masterclasses with Robert Glasper and Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon. In 2012 Lea was one of 6 singers to be awarded the Ensign Darling Vocal Fellowship at the Bushnell Center for the Arts, studying with teacher Joanne Scattergood, coach Starr Cookman, and taking masterclasses with Sondra Kelly, Ellie Ellsworth, Kristin Huffman and many others.