Mezzo-Soprano sanjuanera Laura Virella started her musical studies at the age of five with the Coro de Niños de San Juan, and 20 years later proceeded to take NYC by storm while becoming, as she likes to say, "Mistress of Music" (Manhattan School of Music, MM 2007).

Having traveled the world because of her music from a very early age, she has a passion for exploration, languages, and pushing boundaries. These are only surpassed by her passion for the stage, where her performances have inspired reviews as diverse as "Laura Virella's Carmen could not be more sensual without inviting a police raid" (The Baltimore Sun, 2002), "Virella, at a very early age, already communicates with transparent sincerity, the fervor of this marvelous text of the Trinity Doxology," (Luis Enrique Juliá, El Nuevo Día, San Juan, PR, 2001) and "All, especially the rich mezzo-soprano Laura Virella, are gifted singers" (Washington Times, 2005).

In 1997, at the age of 16, her choir announced it would cancel a trip to Russia due to lack of funding. Laura resolved to write, conduct, direct and produce a fund-raising musical. With mom put to work on costumes, and a few calls to local radio stations, her grand idea was not only a crash course in business (and counterpoint!): it laid the foundation for what POM is today. And, of course, a group of young Puerto Ricans got to witness the famous white nights.

"The question is not whether we can do this, but how."
POM roles: Rosina, Cherubino, Bianca

POM is sponsored by:

New York Accompanists Association (NYAA)

Mu Beta Psi