“YOU can sing R&B, you can sing gospel, rock n’ roll, contemporary, classical, you can sing the whole bag,” says one top music industry insider.
Hello Boston! My name is Lauren Mahoney. I am 19 years old and from Andover, MA, and I am delighted to share my musical journey with you.
My popular music career took flight after taking the North Shore music scene by storm with my recent win in the highly competitive New Hampshire’s “Seabrook Idol” contest in January 2023. At 18 and the youngest in the competition, I competed for five weeks, interacted with renowned judges, and made excellent connections.
During Seabrook Idol, I was amidst my studies at the prestigious Phillips Academy Andover, ranked the top private high school in the country. With my rigorous school schedule lasting twelve hours a day, I only had time to prepare for the competition on Sunday evening and perform each Tuesday in January.
I had no expectations of competing, but somehow, I managed to win, and it opened my eyes to the possibility of pursuing a pop music career.
Speaking of Phillips Academy, I love to learn. My high school taught me how to think of topics in a new and insightful way and also helped me gain independence as a student and adult.
In addition to music in high school, I was a four-year varsity starter on the softball team. I was a pitcher and first baseman. At the end of my senior year, I had never lost a game on the mound and had a .400 batting average.
As I entered college, it was an easy decision to give up softball to pursue my studies in music. What you might find surprising is that besides popular music, I study opera. I believe that my classical background will aid me for the rest of my musical career.
Not many people realize that some all-time greats like Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, and Freddie Mercury came from classical music upbringings. In my opinion, they have the most refined pop technique, given their admirable chest-to-head transitions and vocal flexibility.
I have been singing my whole life, even though my parents are not oriented with anything musical; I pursued acting and singing at a young age. In preschool, I first entered a program called Tiny Tunes, which was supposed to be a daycare that integrated children into the arts. Instead, I fell in love with musical theatre and continued with the program through elementary school. I gained confidence when my teacher assigned me “Don’t Rain on My Parade” by Barbra Streisand at eight years old.
At Phillips, I studied under Krista River, who won a Grammy for Best Opera Recording. As to say, I was in good hands. Together, we explored music ranging from baroque to modern classical.
All of my mentors told me to start studying opera, given my natural vibrato in my higher register. As I became familiar with the genre, my sophomore summer, I was accepted into The Boston Conservatory VCI program, where I knew I wanted to pursue opera more seriously.
That following summer, I was admitted to Boston University’s Young Artist Vocal Program, where I spent six weeks at Tanglewood. There, I performed in the same concert series as John Williams, sang solo roles, and participated in Opera scenes for the first time. At BUTI, I fell in love with the professors at BU and then applied to Boston University’s Classical Vocal Program and was accepted Early Decision. I am currently one of four freshman Vocal Performance majors.
Also, at Phillips, I won the senior concerto competition my senior year, which allowed me to sing two arias with the Academy Orchestra. One of the arias is the famous “Habanera” from Carmen.
Additionally, I participated in a masterclass with The Juilliard School with Dr. Brian Zeger.
Throughout high school, I was considered a soprano, but transitioning into my senior year, I was deemed a mezzo by professors at BU and Phillips Academy. My classical voice is loud and dramatic, transitioning nicely into more contemporary music. In addition to that achievement, I was the cohead of two acapella groups, cohead of our select choral ensemble, an all-campus choir member, and frequent soloist for those choirs.
In the summer of 2024, I achieved a lead role in Tuscany, Italy, with Opera Seme as Fidelma in Il matrimonio segreto. I am excited to attend and travel with my teacher from BU, Dr. Alison Trainer. Dr. Trainer is a renowned opera singer who was a national semi-finalist in the Metropolitan Opera Competition, a frequent Symphony soloist, and debuted in many roles in Europe.
Alongside voice, I studied jazz piano for twelve years with my teacher, Mrs. Everly Hurton. Together, we blended my passion for voice and piano to gear my studies to improvisation and self-accompaniment. I love this creativity, and now I am an advanced piano player and demonstrate so in my gigs and performances.
At the current moment, I am living two different narratives. One as an opera singer, and the other as a pop and jazz singer.
In the past year, I did my first professional photo shoot with the photographer to the stars, Robert Hare, opened for pop boyband legends LFO and OTOWN, rode through the streets of Boston in a classic Cadillac Eldorado convertible performing in the South Boston Christmas Parade, been on Podcasts such as “Musicians and Beyond” and WBZ’s “Afternoon Drive with Drew Mulholland,” sang in the Marblehead Festival of the Arts, and was featured performer at the BostonMan Magazine/Giovanni DeCunto unveiling of Giovanni’s custom Taylor Swift portrait.
Also, I was super excited to have been part of the South Boston St. Patrick’s Day Parade and being able to have performed in front of OVER ONE MILLION people! That’s not a typo. ONE MILLION people, WOW, and I am looking forward to fulfilling a dream of mine, singing the national anthem at Fenway Park this summer.
I recently recorded my first original pop/country song with multi-platinum music manager/producer Mike Caputo and Brad Young, titled “Wasn’t You, Wasn’t Me,” written by Greg Raposo, who is also featured on the track, which will be available on all major digital outlets this spring.
My future plans are to write original music and collaborate with other vocal artists. It is hard to choose just one genre of music to pursue because both genres bring different aspects to vocal performance.
On the one hand, opera is full of techniques where I must focus on diction work, breath support, and acting. I currently sing in five languages: Italian, English, German, French, and Spanish. On the contrary, popular music is all about stage presence; for me, playing the piano and emoting a message through the power of your voice.
I’d like to thank my parents, family, friends, and musical mentors for all the support they have given me throughout the process. On a final side note, I recently had the honor of performing for the President of a Major Record Label, so I am excited to see what my future holds. Special thanks to Mike Caputo, Marco Carulli, and Nicole Malcolm for guiding me and helping me get to this point in my pop career!
To keep up with the latest happenings with Lauren, follow her on Instagram!
