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American soprano Katie Van Kooten’s operatic and concert appearances continue to thrill audiences and earn her praise for using her “powerful, gleaming soprano” to bring vibrancy and life to all of her performances.
After a highly acclaimed run of performances as Elisabetta in Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda opposite Joyce DiDonato at Houston Grand Opera, Ms. Van Kooten returns there to begin her 2012-2013 season as Mimi in John Caird’s new production of La Bohème. This season also marks a company and role debut as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni with Opera Grand Rapids, and soprano soloist in A Sea Symphony by Vaughan Williams with the Sioux City Symphony.
In the 2011-2012 season Ms. Van Kooten made her role debut as Elisabetta in Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda at Houston Grand Opera in a new production conducted by Patrick Summers in which she was praised for being “nothing short of a sensation.” She made her company debut with New Orleans Opera as Liù in Turandot; and in Europe she returned to Oper Frankfurt for performances of Antonia in Les Contes d’Hoffmann. She also returned to San Francisco
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American soprano Katie Van Kooten’s operatic and concert appearances continue to thrill audiences and earn her praise for using her “powerful, gleaming soprano” to bring vibrancy and life to all of her performances.
After a highly acclaimed run of performances as Elisabetta in Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda opposite Joyce DiDonato at Houston Grand Opera, Ms. Van Kooten returns there to begin her 2012-2013 season as Mimi in John Caird’s new production of La Bohème. This season also marks a company and role debut as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni with Opera Grand Rapids, and soprano soloist in A Sea Symphony by Vaughan Williams with the Sioux City Symphony.
In the 2011-2012 season Ms. Van Kooten made her role debut as Elisabetta in Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda at Houston Grand Opera in a new production conducted by Patrick Summers in which she was praised for being “nothing short of a sensation.” She made her company debut with New Orleans Opera as Liù in Turandot; and in Europe she returned to Oper Frankfurt for performances of Antonia in Les Contes d’Hoffmann. She also returned to San Francisco Symphony for a performance of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with Michael Tilson Thomas and performed in Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with Tucson Symphony Orchestra.
Operatic highlights from past seasons include Ellen Orford in Britten’s Peter Grimes in a new production by Neil Armfield at Houston Grand, her house debut in a new production with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City as Countess Almaviva in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro and her Oper Frankfurt and role debut as Vitellia in Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito. Ms. Van Kooten made her house debuts at the Metropolitan Opera in the acclaimed Nicolas Joël production of La Rondine as Magda and at Houston Grand Opera as Helena in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. She made her debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in 2004 as Magda in La Rondine and return performances there have included Antonia in Les Contes d’Hoffmann opposite Rolando Villazón and led by Antonio Pappano, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Mimi in La Bohème, and Marguerite in Faust. She made her Japanese debut as Micaëla in Carmen under the direction of Seiji Ozawa, and her United States debut performing Marguerite in Gounod’s Faust with the Metropolitan Opera on the Great Lawn of Central Park.
In concert, Katie Van Kooten has sung Mozart’s Requiem with the London Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Vladimir Jurowski and Strauss’ Vier letzte lieder with the Halle Orchestra led by Edward Gardner. She made her San Francisco Symphony debut in a special New Year’s Eve program with Dmitry Sitkovetsky, and made her Minnesota Opera and role debut as the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier under the direction of Andrew Litton.
A graduate of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, Ms. Van Kooten studies voice with Rudolf Piernay. She received her Bachelor’s degree in vocal performance from Biola University where she studied with Dr. Jeanne Robison and is a graduate and perpetual member of the Torrey Honors Institute.
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Reviews
"...a major operatic talent. Her singing has something of the same glow radiated by Te Kanawa or Freni, and her endearing charm and bright smile make her a winning stage personality."
The Daily Telegraph
"The rising young soprano Katie Van Kooten, an American who has made her career mainly in London, contributed a highly appealing Marguerite, offering a fluent, securely sung Jewel Song, graced by a good trill, and some nicely floated phrases in the Love Duet. She was also strong in projecting Marguerite's anguish in the Church Scene."
The New York Times
"The role of schoolmistress Ellen Orford, Grimes' only friend, could not be any more sensitively acted or exquisitely sung than it is here by Katie Van Kooten… With her radiant soprano and intense conviction, Van Kooten is ideal as the compassionate Ellen. She conveys the heartbreaking essence of the role, that her desperate effort to save Grimes is futile, as she at last realizes in her beautiful "Embroidery" aria."
Houston Chronicle
"Thus, Rosina’s aria, “Dove sono i bei momenti,” becomes a haunting lament, heightened by soprano Katie Van Kooten’s impeccable, soulful performance."
Kansas City Star
"Soprano Katie Van Kooten (Helena) in her HGO debut, delivered highly athletic and movingly sung portrayals of love, anger, disgust, incredulity, hopelessness and, by morning's light, blissful relief."
Opera News
"Making her Hallé debut, she brought a rapt beauty to Richard Strauss's Four Last Songs, the perfect vehicle for her lyrical yet dramatic voice. Her full, glowing tone soared remarkably easily over the orchestra and her innate feeling for a long phrase allowed the ecstasy and longing of the first two songs to unfold seamlessly… As for Van Kooten, she sounded unforced, unfettered, even – especially in "Frühling" – while showing no inclination to linger unnaturally over music that is already autumnal enough in its sense of elegiac valediction. Her voice seemed to blossom through each piece, radiating myriad colours, to the work's shimmering end."
The Independent