MEET THE SOLOIST: Kathryn Mueller, soprano

Soprano Kathryn Mueller performs Handel's Messiah
December 10, 2023, 3PM

Background: At home in repertoire from early music to new commissions, coloratura soprano Kathryn Mueller is praised for her "crystalline soaring soprano" and “appealing stage presence of personal warmth and musicianship.” She has sung with ensembles including Cincinnati Symphony (Mozart Mass in C Minor), ROCO (Knoxville: Summer of 1915), Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra (Reena Esmail's The History of Red), Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (Beethoven Symphony No. 9), Tucson Symphony (Messiah), and Spartanburg Philharmonic (Gliere’s Concerto for Coloratura Soprano), as well as with ensembles including the Charlotte and Memphis Symphonies, American Bach Soloists, Portland Baroque Orchestra, and Santa Fe Pro Musica. She has also sung operatic roles for Arizona Opera, the North Carolina HIP Music Festival, and Bach Collegium San Diego. International performances include an Indonesian concert tour with the Swara Sonora Trio and concerts in Central Mexico with the baroque ensemble Capella Guanajuatensis.

An advocate for new music, Kathryn co-commissioned Reena Esmail’s The History of Red along with Santa Fe Pro Musica, River Oaks Chamber Orchestra, the Orlando Philharmonic, and The Knights. The History of Red was premiered in 2021 and was hailed for its "evocative sonorities, sensitivity to the changing moods of the poem, and skillfully crafted, natural-sounding text rhythms." In a 2023 performance of the work with the Oakland Symphony, Musical America praised Kathryn for her “haunting performance, whether she was confiding dark musings in the lower range or launching lofty melismatic lines with laser-like intensity.” Kathryn also gave the world premiere of Ananda Sukarlan’s song cycle Love and Variations, commissioned for her vocal-piano ensemble Swara Sonora Trio.

Also a Baroque specialist, Kathryn turned to her musical roots for her debut solo album, Love & Loss: Songs of Purcell, Bach and Handel. Released in 2020, Love & Loss was praised by Early Music America for Kathryn’s “sheer beauty,” “deliberate restraint,” and “concern for the text.” Kathryn's soprano duo Les Sirènes was one of 6 finalist groups in Early Music America's Baroque Performance Competition.

Kathryn received a GRAMMY nomination for her solo work on True Concord’s album Far in the Heavens. She has also recorded two GRAMMY-nominated albums with Seraphic Fire and is featured as a soloist on recordings by New Trinity Baroque, the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Tucson Chamber Artists, and Seraphic Fire, including Seraphic Fire’s best-selling Monteverdi Vespers of 1610, which reached the top of the iTunes classical chart. 

Kathryn is hailed equally for her lovely tone, effortless high notes, and her engaging stage presence that embraces both text and audience. She was a fellow in the prestigious Adams Vocal Master Class at the Carmel Bach Festival, and was twice a finalist in the Oratorio Society of New York's Solo Competition, winning the Frances MacEachron Award. 

Born in San Francisco, Kathryn began her musical studies at 7,000' elevation in the White Mountains of Arizona. Her first professional engagement – a section leader position at an Episcopal church in Providence – came during high school in Rhode Island. She continued her vocal studies as an undergraduate at Brown University and then earned a Masters degree in vocal performance from the University of Arizona. Kathryn also spent a summer in Salzburg studying Lieder at the Mozarteum. She is based in Raleigh, NC where she lives with her choral conductor husband and two lively young children. She belongs to Beyond Artists, a coalition of musicians who donate a percentage of their concert fees to organizations they care about. She supports the Poor People's Campaign through her performances.

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