Biography
American soprano Katie Van Kooten’s operatic and concert appearances continue to thrill audiences and garner praise for her “powerful, gleaming soprano.” Of her role debut as Tatyana in Tchaikovsky’s Yevgeny Onegin, the Houston Chronicle wrote, “Her singing is extraordinary in its radiance, power and sheer expressiveness. Her ‘Letter Scene’ alone, would be reason enough to attend.”
In the 2023-24 season, Ms. Van Kooten will make her house and role debut at Seattle Opera as Freia in Das Rheingold. She will return to Houston Grand Opera to sing Mother Abess in The Sound of Music and Pacific Northwest Opera to sing Countess in The Marriage of Figaro. In concert engagement, Ms. Van Kooten will sing Verdi’s Requiem with Tucson Symphony Orchestra conducted by José Luis Gomez.
In the 2022/23 season, Katie Van Kooten debuted at both Utah Opera and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis in the title role of Tosca. Her concert engagements include performances of Vaughan William’s A Sea Symphony with the St. Louis Symphony under the baton of Stéphane Denève.
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 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.”
More Reviews
“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.”
“Thus, Rosina’s aria, “Dove sono i bei momenti,” becomes a haunting lament, heightened by soprano Katie Van Kooten’s impeccable, soulful performance.”
“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.”
“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.”
