Juilliard Grad Lauren Randolph on Denyce Graves and Shared Voices

Soprano Lauren Randolph, a 2025 National Finalist in The Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition, has gone on record about her time in the Denyce Graves Foundation's Shared Voices program — and about the moment she sang for bass-baritone Simon Estes and could not hold back tears.

Speaking to OperaWire in its interview series with current and alumni singers from the program, the Chicago-born Randolph, who recently graduated from The Juilliard School as a Kovner Fellow, described a training scheme that treats the artist as a whole person, not just a voice.

How did Randolph find the program?

Randolph first heard of the Denyce Graves Foundation through friends at Juilliard who were already in Shared Voices. Her advisor, Brian Zeger, encouraged her to apply. "I was interested in Shared Voices because it is a young artist development program that places emphasis on community, culture, and developing the artist as a whole person in addition to cultivating artistic excellence," she said.

The foundation, founded by the opera star Denyce Graves, celebrates trailblazing musicians, music educators and composers of color through concerts, community engagement, new works and young artist training.

What was coaching with Denyce Graves like?

Randolph recalled her first coaching, when she brought French operatic repertoire. As her pianist began the introduction to an aria from "Samson et Dalila," she saw Graves respond with the full force of the music. "I could see that she felt the energy of the full orchestra under her skin, like the opera lived within her," Randolph said. Graves, she added, "is someone who truly embodies her work with intelligence, grace, and humility, and encourages us, the Shared Voices students, to do the same."

What does the training actually cover?

The weekly curriculum ranged well beyond singing:

• Media training on how to give interviews
• Lessons on managing finances and filing taxes
• Social media management and building a business
• Private coachings in singing and public speaking
• Sessions on writing program notes
• Masterclasses with representatives from major opera companies

A trip to Morehouse College in Atlanta stood out. There Randolph attended seminars on African American art song and opera and collected resources for studying and performing that repertoire. Since graduating, she says, she has personal connections with vocal coaches, social media experts and mental health professionals — "just about anyone who I can contact for any kind of help or guidance."

Why does she think the foundation matters?

Randolph named the biggest challenge bluntly: staying connected to purpose amid auditions, social media, constant travel and email. The Foundation, she said, addressed this in two ways — practical career skills and, above all, community. "When you are encouraged to connect with others and tell stories through music, you find real purpose in your artistry," she said.

"As they say, it takes a village," she added. "The support from organizations like the DGF is immensely important because this is an ever evolving and quite complicated career path, and you need every helping hand to keep guiding you forward."

What moment will she never forget?

Randolph sang Copland's "At the River" at the premiere screening of the documentary Simon Estes: A Heart & A Voice, presented by the Denyce Graves Foundation at Juilliard. She admits she was star-struck — she had long loved his recording of "Carmen" — and grateful she sang before, not after, the film, because she "couldn't help but cry during the documentary." His words, she said, still sit deep in her soul: "Most of all, he emphasized to always sing from the heart."

With Laffont finalist status, performances with Santa Fe Opera, Juilliard Opera, Carnegie Hall and the Chicago Symphony Chorus and Civic Orchestra already behind her, Randolph's account suggests Shared Voices is doing what Graves intended: bridging overlooked musical legacies to a rising generation.