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 conductor. In every performance Lea is dedicated to emotive musicality, healthy technique, language accuracy, and authentic emotional expression. Lea brings fastidious attention to details of rhythm, pitch, and musicality, especially as a chorus member, section leader, and ensemble singer; always striving for the ultimate goal of telling a story and illuminating shared humanity through music and arts.
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, A Joyful Noyse, and many other groups performing works from the baroque to modern day. Lea also performs as a solo act throughout the greater Boston area, singing pop and folk music at markets, bars, lounges, and events. Some of Lea's current projects include a concert program
of treble-vocal music entitled "The Witching Hour," which was premiered at the SoHIP Boston Music Festival in August and will be reprised at Pegasus NY Music Festival as well as other venues across the Northeast over the next year; 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); music directing Head Over Heels at Greater Boston Stage Company; and teaching a 6-week long course on vocal technique for musical theatre at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education.
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 works as a visiting accompanist and music director at Bridgewater State University. Utilizing her musical talent alongside her background in theatre and musical theatre, Lea has worked at BLA, The Winsor School, Cambridge Center for Adult Education, Roxbury Latin, The Performing Arts Connection, 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.