Performance Year: 2013, 2024
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.
Operatic highlights from past seasons include the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier with the Metropolitan Opera, Liù in Turandot with Opera New Orleans, Helena in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Houston Grand Opera, a return to Covent Garden as Magda in La Rondine, Vitellia in Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito with Oper Frankfurt, Antonia in Les Contes d’Hoffmann opposite Rolando Villazón and led by Antonio Pappano, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, and Mimi in La Bohème. 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. She has performed to great acclaim as Ellen Orford in Britten’s Peter Grimes with Oper Frankfurt as well as in a new production by Neil Armfield at Houston Grand. Roles at Arizona Opera include Contessa Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro and Jane Withersteen in Riders of the Purple Sage.
Notable appearances on the concert stage include performances with the San Francisco Symphony for Beethoven’s 9th Symphony under the baton of Michael Tilson Thomas and Handel’s Messiah led by Ragnar Bohlin, as well as a New Year’s Eve program with Dmitry Sitkovetsky. She has performed Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood, Baltimore Symphony conducted by Nicholas McGegan, Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra, Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, Oregon Symphony conducted by Jean-Marie Zeitouni, Louisville Symphony, and Rochester Philharmonic. She has also performed Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with Tucson Symphony Orchestra, Mozart’s Requiem with the London Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Vladimir Jurowski, and Strauss’ Four Last Songs with the Halle Orchestra led by Edward Gardner. She returned to the Minnesota Orchestra for Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 under the baton of music director Osmo Vänskä.
A graduate of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, Ms. Van Kooten studied 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.
