Biography

Turkish mezzo-soprano and Fulbright alumna Dr. Lori Şen is known for her versatility in many vocal genres, including opera, art song, musical theatre, and jazz, as well as for her teaching and research interests in vocal literature, voice pedagogy, and voice science. She regularly collaborates with musicians and composers across a variety of genres, and has performed in Turkey, Europe, and the United States.

Lori was born into and raised in a scientific household in Izmir, Turkey, which led her onto her unique path towards a career in music that began with a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics. Throughout her physics studies at the Middle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara, Turkey, she performed in numerous concerts and shows as a member of “The Company” METU Musical Society and a student of the well-known Bulgarian jazz singer Yıldız Ibrahimova.

Lori’s musical experiences at METU amplified her interest in music, which gradually evolved into a desire to pursue a career as a singer. Upon completion of her B.Sc. and M.Ed. degrees in physics, she was accepted as a classical voice major at Dokuz Eylül University State Conservatory of Music in Izmir, Turkey, where she studied with distinguished American soprano Jeanette Thompson for five years. During her undergraduate studies in music, she continued to sing jazz as the vocalist of jazz bands RagBag, In n’ Out, and Heaven Experience. She also founded and directed the Jewish Community Choir in Izmir, through which she had the pleasure of making a musical contribution to the community.

Lori’s fascination with the science and mechanics of voice production and singing led to her graduate studies in vocal pedagogy. She applied for a Fulbright Scholarship in Turkey and was selected as a grantee to pursue a Master’s degree in voice pedagogy in the United States. Lori received her Master of Music in Voice Performance and Pedagogy at Westminster Choir College, in Princeton, NJ, as a Fulbright student, where she studied voice with renowned dramatic soprano Sharon Sweet. She also performed vocal pedagogy and voice science research at Westminster under the tutelage of Dr. Kathy Price, which allowed her to make use of her physics background during her assistantship at the Presser Voice Laboratory. Her deep interest in the anatomy, physiology, and acoustics of the vocal instrument, as well as vocal health, and her proficiency with various vocal pedagogy software and equipment, have led to a number of research projects over the years, which were presented at conferences including The Voice Foundation Symposium and National Association of Teachers of Singing Conference in the United States, and the International Scientific and Practical Conference: “Musical Traditions in Globalizing World” in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Lori’s research interests also focus on vocal literature. In 2019, she completed her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Voice Performance at the University of Maryland, College Park, where she studied with Martha Randall and focused on the art song repertoire. Her dissertation, Sephardic Art Song: A Musical Legacy of the Sephardic Diaspora, explored the Sephardic Art Song repertoire from the Western classical perspective. Since then, Lori has gained renown as a leading expert of the Sephardic art song genre, as the first scholar to ever to catalogue this repertoire that comprises Western classical settings and arrangements of traditional Sephardic folk literature. She is also the first to create a Ladino diction guide exclusively for singers who would like to sing Sephardic songs in their original language. Since 2018, she has introduced this genre and her research to audiences through her solo recitals and lectures at various conferences and festivals, several organizations in the United States including the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research in New York City, Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, in Washington, D.C., and the Barcelona Festival of Song in Spain.

Also an active performer, Lori’s recent performances comprise solo recitals, operatic roles (Angelina/La Cenerentola, Marta/Iolanta, La Ciesca/Gianni Schicchi, among others), opera chorus (Maryland Lyric Opera), and jazz performances, including guest performances with the Symphony Orchestra of Northern Virginia (SONOVA). She especially enjoys working with composers and musicians from a variety of traditions and backgrounds in premiering new works, and has worked with names such as William Kenlon, Brian Field, Kit Young, Brian Wilbur Grundstrom, and Carol Anne Bosco. Lori was featured in Kit Young’s improvisational chamber opera What Miss Dickinson Heard - And Didn't that entwine improvisation, composed prompts, and poems and letters of Emily Dickinson on sound and silence. She premiered the role of Lady Diana in a new musical entitled Queen of the People’s Hearts (2021) by Angela Knight and Randal Dewey that celebrates the life of Diana, the Princess of Wales. More recently, she was featured in Iranian virtuoso violist Kimia Hesabi's debut album Nemāno Gaona (2022) that comprises works of contemporary composers of the Iranian Diaspora.

Lori is currently on the voice faculty at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland School of Music. She is an active member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), The Voice Foundation, and the Fulbright Association. She also serves as an ambassador for the Barcelona Festival of Song, and is a board member at the International Florence Price Festival.

Curriculum Vitae