In Riders to the Sea, “Linda Lane Smith was cast as the old mother. This was a visual and aural demonstration of affecting truth. She sang with remarkable poise and expressiveness, and her habitation of the aged role was so convincing in its weariness and pain and eventual philosophy as to contitute a theatrical experience.”
—Hilmar Grondahl
Music Critic
Oregon Journal

In the world of Signor Deluso, a comic opera created by Thomas Pasatiere, we heard “a lovely thing with graceful, soaring vocal lines, elegant rhythms and transparent, often pognant scoring for eight instruments. Under Maestro John Moriarty’s light, effective baton, Linda Lane Smith’s Clara was splendid and lively…”
—Robert Jacobson
Opera News

In Cosí Fan Tutte, Ms. Smith was “outstanding” and “extraordinarily proficient in [her] singing and action. [She] adhered to the Mozartian style with assurance and fine voice and was at ease in the projection of her character on stage. Miss Smith provided a stunning example of the fact that singing, properly produced and supported, is significantly more convincing theatrically than vocal use which is lacking in technical assurance, as is the case with so much of the operatic performance we hear.”
—Hilmar Grondahl
Music Critic
Oregon Journal

“There was one instance of high professional excellence: the singing of Linda Lane Smith as guest soloist in the Brahms Rhapsody for Alto and Male Chorus. Ms Smith’s voice, of warm and luminous quality, steady and emotionally evocative in this assignment, was ideally suited to the music.”
—Hilmar Grondahl
Music Critic
Oregonian

“While at Boston Conservatory of Music, Ms Smith sang in the premiere performance of The Yardumian Mass sung in Boston’s Symphony Hall with Lili Chookasian as soloist.
—Hilmar Grondahl
Music Critic
Oregonian

Opera

International singer, Linda Lane Smith, has a versatile, warm, powerful voice that exudes her own unique, sparkling personality. She reinvents herself each time she performs, having won accolades in everything from grand opera to sacred repertoire to musical theatre, and awards singing both classical music and opera. Many have said, after hearing Linda Lane sing, a line similar to that used by Leontyne Price when listening to a playback of her own voice in a recording session: “Now, that girl can sing!” And the praise doesn’t stop there: she has also been singled out for her acting.

A native of rural Oregon, Linda recently made her U.S. musical theatre debut playing (to the hilt!) the role of Madame de la Grande Bouche in Beauty and the Beast at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre, directed by Brad Mooy. Winner of the Silver Medal in the Vinas International Singing Competition in Barcelona, Spain; a finalist in the International Contemporary Opera competition in NYC; and a finalist in the Annelise Rothenberger Competition in Hamburg, Germany, Ms. Smith has been heard at the Theatre des Westens in Berlin and the Graz Opera House, the Schauspiel Haus, and the Rittersaahl der Residenze in Austria, as well as at Wolf Trap, Seattle, Dallas and Portland Opera Houses, and in recital (lieder) with pianist Norman Shetler.

She was invited to appear at the Kennedy Center’s bicentennial celebration as a soloist, and asked by composer Thomas Pasatieri to create the role of Clara in the world premiere of his opera, Signor Deluso. Other appearances include solo performances at the Monte Carlo Festival and the Salzburg Summer Festival. Proficient in many languages (German, French, Greek, Italian, Albanian, Czech, English and Latin), she has performed under the batons of such notables as Donald Runnicles, Sarah Caldwell, Thomas Pasatieri, John Moriarty, Benton Hess, John Mauceri, Christopher Keen, Harold Heiberg, Dan Smith, David Triestram, Gibner (Ben) King, William Huckaby, Gian Carlo Menotti, John Reardon, Francis Rizzo, Julis Rudel and Erick Werba.

Directors with whom Ms. Smith has had the privilege to work include Rhoda Lhevine, Lotfi Masouri, Sarah Caldwell, David Barthlomew and Francis Rizzo, in addition to those already mentioned.

Ms. Smith received a Bachelor’s degree from Boston Conservatory and a Performance Certificiate from the Mozarteum in Salzburg. She studied with Arlene Auger, Gibner King, John Large, Elena Nikolaidi, Irma Cooper, Burton Coffin and Iride Pilla.

She is a member of Sigma Alpha Iota; inlcuded in Cambridge Who’s Who; an alumna Worthy Advisor of Order of Rainbow; and a former member of the Board of Trustees Bergen Museum in Hackensack, NJ. Linda Lane currently resides in New York City, where she coaches with Phil Hall and Robert Hess.