Kathryn Lewek

The American soprano Kathryn Lewek makes acclaimed appearances at leading opera houses and renowned festivals worldwide. Alongside her triumphs in major coloratura roles, she has also won accolades for her concert appearances and for her interpretations of contemporary art song.

Highlights of the 2023/24 season have included her role debuts as Juliette (Roméo et Juliette) at the Toledo Opera in Ohio and as Delibes’ Lakmé at the Opéra de Nice, the world premiere of Matthew Aucoin’s and Peter Sellars’s Music for New Bodies at Rice University in Houston, the four heroines in Les Contes d’Hoffmann at the Palm Beach Opera in Florida, performances as the Queen of the Night at the Metropolitan Opera, New York, the Semperoper Dresden and with the Cleveland Orchestra and concerts with the Vienna Philharmonic and at Carnegie Hall.

An outstanding interpreter of the role of the Queen of the Night, Kathryn Lewek has performed this part more than 300 times worldwide, including a record-breaking 64 performances at the Metropolitan Opera alone. Past operatic highlights have also included a series of role debuts: as Countess Adèle (Le Comte Ory) at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, as Cunégonde (Candide) at the Glimmerglass Opera, as La Fée (Cendrillon) at the New Orleans Opera, as Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda at the Edmonton Opera, as Violetta (La traviata), Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Zerlina (Don Giovanni) and Lucia di Lammermoor at the Toledo Opera, as the four heroines in Les Contes d’Hoffmann at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, as Teresa (Benvenuto Cellini) at the Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, as Ginevra (Ariodante) at the 2017 Salzburg Whitsun Festival, as Eurydice (Orphée aux enfers) at the 2019 Salzburg Festival and as Jessica in the International Opera Award-winning world premiere of André Tchaikowsky’s The Merchant of Venice at the 2013 Bregenz Festival.

In concert her acclaimed appearances include works by Bernstein at the Washington National Opera, by Orff with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and by Bach with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, along with the annual performances of Handel’s Messiah with the Oratorio Society of New York and Musica Sacra at Carnegie Hall.

Two of Kathryn Lewek’s Met performances as the Queen of the Night have been broadcast live to cinemas worldwide as part of the Met’s Live in HD series. Her discography includes the album Kathryn Lewek sings Cary Ratcliff, live recordings of Handel operas with Il Pomo d’Oro and of rarities from the Deutsche Oper Berlin, and DVDs of the Salzburg Festival productions of Ariodante and Orphée aux enfers (nominated for an International Classical Music Award). Her awards include two major prizes at the Operalia Competition in 2013.