Katherine Lerner

Hailed for her voice of "gleaming black lacquer," and "unbelievable power," American mezzo-soprano Katherine Lerner wields her richly hued instrument with sensitivity and expression.

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In 2017-2018 season, she joined the ensemble at the Landestheater Linz (Austria) as a Dramatic Mezzo, where in her house debut as the Amme, in a new production of Frau ohne Schatten, she received rave reviews. During her five years in the ensemble, she went on to sing roles such as Kundry/Parsifal, Azucena/Il Trovatore, Fidès/le Prophète, Klytämnestra/Elektra, and Brängane/Tristan und Isolde among others.

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The 2014 season brought her to the Metropolitan Opera, where she covered the roles of Olga in Eugene Onegin and Bersi in Andrea Chénier. In 2016, she appeared with the Knoxville Opera as the Witch in Hansel and Gretel, and 2017, she sang the role of Erna in Haas' Morgen und Abend with the Theater und Orchester Heidelberg.

 

While still in the Ryan Center at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, she sang Siébel in Gounod's Faust under the baton of Sir Andrew Davis. Chicago Classical Review described her performance as: "agile and aptly boyish...her youthful mezzo and spirited vocalism fully deserving of Siébel's rarely heard second aria, Si le bonheur." Lerner sang many other roles on the Lyric's stage, including 3rd Lady/The Magic Flute, Rosette/Manon, Lola/Cavalleria rusticana, and Wowkle/La fanciulla del West.

 

The mezzo is an accomplished recitalist, having honed her skills at the Music Academy of the West and the Steans Institute at Ravinia. She has performed with top-tier orchestras around the country, including the San Francisco Symphony, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Cleveland Orchestra.

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Ms. Lerner received her Masters in Opera from the Curtis Institute of Music, and her Bachelors in Voice from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.  She is the proud recipient of a Richard F. Gold Career Grant, as well as awards from the Opera Columbus, Opera Birmingham, and Florida Grand Opera competitions. She is also the recipient of the Grand Prize from the Union League Civic and Arts Foundation, and the Edith Newfield Award from the Musicians Club of Women. In 2021, she was nominated for the Österreichische Musiktheaterpreis "Best Female Lead" for her performance of Azucena in il trovatore. Most recently, she won the 2022 Österreichische Musiktheaterpreis for "Best Supporting Female Role" for her star turn in Turnage's Twice Through the Heart. Most recently she received the Ursula Springer Award from the Wagner Society of New York, which is earmarked for a "young singer with outstanding potential in the dramatic repertory."

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Upcoming for the 2022-23 season is her German house debut of Klytämnestra/Elektra, as well as an appearance with the Brooklyn Art Song Society singing Eisler's Hollywooder Liederbuch and the Ridotto chamber series, performing Haydn's Arianna a Naxos.

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