Guest Artist Biographies

Anna Larsson

Anna Larsson graduated from the University College of Opera in Stockholm in 1996. Her international debut followed immediately in Mahler Symphony No. 2 with the Berliner Philharmonic Orchestra and Claudio Abbado, and her opera debut as Erda in Wagner’s Das Rheingold at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin, conducted by Daniel Barenboim.

Among her many roles are Kundry in Wagner’s Parsifal, Herodias in Massenet’s Hérodiade, Erda in Wagner’s Siegfried and Fricka in Die Walküre, Delilah in Saint-Saëns’s Samson and Delilah, and Genevieve in Debussy’s Pelleas et Mélisande at theatres including Teatro alla Scala, Vienna State Opera, Bayerische Staatsoper, Salzburg and Aix-en-Provence festivals, the Opéra de Paris, the Royal Opera House in London, Teatro Maggio Musicale in Florence, La Monnaie Brussels, Palau des Arts Valencia, Royal Opera Copenhagen, Finnish National Opera, and the Swedish Royal Opera.

In concert, Larsson is internationally renowned as a consummate interpreter of Gustav Mahler’s works. She regularly sings with the world’s great orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonic, Lucerne Festival Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, London Symphony, and London Philharmonic orchestras. She has sung with illustrious conductors including Esa-Pekka Salonen, Daniel Harding, Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Antonio Pappano, Gustavo Dudamel, Alan Gilbert, and Nikolaus Harnoncourt. In December 2010, Larsson was appointed Court Singer by King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, and in 2011, she opened her own concert house, Vattnäs Concert Bam.

Recent engagements have included Erda with Barenboim for the Deutsche Staatsoper with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Klytemnestra (Elektra) for Deutsche Oper Berlin, Zia Principessa (Suor Angelica) for Malmö Opera, Royal Swedish Opera, and Den Norske Opera, Erda (Siegfried) for Musikhuset Esbjerg, and Waltraute (Gotterdammerung) at MUPA Bupdaest. On the concert platform, recent appearances have included Wesendoncklieder with the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, Das Lied von der Erde for the Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele, Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 and Beethoven’s Mass in C with the LA Philharmonic, and Maher’s Symphony No. 2 with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre National de Lyon, and with the Orchestra of Teatro alla Scala.

In 2022.23, Larsson returns to the operatic stage as Klytemnestra (Elektra) for Den Norske Opera. On the concert platform, Larsson sings Das Lied von der Erde with Lucerne Symphony Orchestra and for the NOVA Chamber Music Series Utah, Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 for Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León, Sao Paulo State Symphony, and Utah Symphony, Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 on tour with the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, and Verdi’s Requiem with the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra.

Congratulations to MSO Retiree: Laurie Shawger

Laurie Shawger joined the second violin section of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra in 1989. She grew up in Pennsylvania and earned her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees at The Juilliard School in New York. Ms. Shawger has participated in the MSO’s Arts in Community Education (ACE) program, a nationally recognized in-school education initiative, and the Lullaby Project, a collaboration between the MSO and the Sojourner Family Peace Center. The beauty of music is the power of human connection through the creative expression of the broad range of our experiences of love, loss, and rebounding joy. Ms. Shawger is thankful for the many years of being a part of the MSO and for the MSO’s vital role in our community’s cultural landscape.