Kathryne Jennings

 
KATHRYNE JENNINGS is an award-winning soprano who has performed in opera, oratorio, recital and cabaret throughout the United States.  She has performed over twenty major opera roles, including Musetta in La Bohème, Micaela and Frasquita in Carmen, Gretel in Hansel und Gretel, Elvira in L’Italiana in Algeri, and many Mozart heroines, including Susanna and the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Mlle. Silberklang in Der Schauspieldirektor, and both Fiordiligi and Despina in Cosi fan tutte.  She has sung with San Francisco Opera’s Western Opera Theatre, Pittsburgh Opera Theatre, Opera Carolina, Piedmont Opera Theatre, Greensboro Opera, Whitewater Opera, and Triangle Opera Theatre. In Massachusetts, she sang Norina with the Commonwealth Opera production of Don Pasquale, appeared as Adele in the Boston Aria Guild’s staged production of Die Fledermaus and performed the roles of The Baroness in Offenbach's La Vie Parisienne and Ann Putnam in Ward’s The Crucible with Opera Boston. 
As a concert soloist, Ms. Jennings performances include Bach's Mass in B Minor, Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Brahms' Requiem, Handel's Messiah, Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass, Mozart's Requiem and Mass in C Minor, Mahler's Symphony No. 2 and No. 4, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, and Orff’s Carmina Burana, Poulenc's Gloria, Villa-Lobos' Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5, and Vaughan Williams' Sea Symphony with the Savannah Symphony, Winston-Salem Symphony, RI Philharmonic, RI Civic Chorale and Orchestra, Masterworks Chorale, Manchester Choral Society, National Chamber Orchestra, Pioneer Valley Symphony, Prince William Symphony Orchestra, Brown University Orchestra, Eastern Philharmonic Orchestra at Eastern Music Festival, and the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival.  Her performances of contemporary repertoire include Lukas Foss’ Song of Songs, Dan Locklair’s Lairs of Soundings (for the North Carolina Dance Theatre) and Arvo Pärt’s Miserere.  Ms. Jennings toured China as soprano soloist with the Brown University Orchestra and received outstanding accolades for her performances.

As a recitalist, Ms. Jennings is “equally at home in serious or comic opera, German lieder, folk-inspired arrangements, or Broadway show tunes…” (Savannah News-Press). She has performed on recital and concert series nationwide, at the University of Virginia, and at numerous festivals, including Piccolo Spoleto, Monadnock, and the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival.
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Ms. Jennings was a prize-winner in the Fourth International Vocal Competition of the Center for Contemporary Opera in New York.  She has studied with Ileana Cotrubas, Italo Tajo, Robert and Lucile Evans, Wesley Balk, and Richard Hughes, and holds degrees from Queens University in Charlotte (B.M.) and the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (M.M.). 

As Artistic Director of Opera Providence from 1998-2004, Ms. Jennings produced professional, fully-staged productions of Rigoletto, La Bohème, Madama Butterfly, La Cenerentola, Carmen, and Tosca. In addition, she produced and directed The Pirates of Penzance as well as numerous opera-themed concerts, and established OPERAtunity, the company’s educational program. For her work with Opera Providence, the Providence Tourism Council honored her with its 2002 Celebration of Women Achievement in Music Award. In 2011, she was invited back to Opera Providence as stage director of a production of Così fan tutte.

Ms. Jennings was a Teaching Associate in Voice at Brown University from 1990-2017 and Instructor of Singing at the Brown/Trinity Rep M.F.A. Program for actors from 2005-2017.  Her students have pursued graduate studies at Juilliard, New England Conservatory, Northwestern University, and other top conservatories; attended Tanglewood and other prestigious summer festivals; and performed on Broadway and off-Broadway, in regional theatre, and in touring productions throughout the United States. Her current and former students include Tony Award winner John Lloyd Young, and members of the Trinity Rep Company and New York’s award-winning Fiasco Theater.   Ms. Jennings was recently appointed Lecturer in Music at Stanford University where she teaches voice in the departments of Music and Theater.  

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