Katherine Jolly

A bright, young, accomplished singer on the opera and concert stages, soprano Katherine Jolly has appeared in leading roles with Opera Theatre Saint Louis, Florida Grand Opera, New York City Opera, Virginia Opera, Amarillo Opera, Piedmont Opera, Lyric Opera Cleveland, American Lyric Theatre, and  Union Avenue Opera. In the concert arena she has performed in multiple seasons with Bach Society Saint Louis in Bach’s Coffee Cantata, The Kingsbury Ensemble in Bach’s Wedding Cantata and Handel’s Il Delirio Amoroso, as the soprano soloist in Handel’s The Messiah with the Evansville Philharmonic, the Richmond Symphony, and the Phoenix Symphony. Jolly was also featured with the Phoenix Symphony in staged performances of Brundibar, Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with Sinfonia Gulf Coast, Carmina Burana with Northwest Florida Symphony, and Mozart’s Mass in C Minor with the Sacramento Choral Arts Society.

Jolly made her debut with Houston Grand Opera in 2012, performing as part of their East/West Chamber Opera series in a premier of New Arrivals. “Katherine Jolly, also making her HGO debut, employed tender and expressive soprano vocals to make her portrayal of Iris poignant and unforgettable,” stated Operaworld.com. She debuted with Virginia Opera, reprising Yum-Yum in The Mikado, and was featured with the company as one of three sopranos in their Simply Sopranos Gala. Jolly returned to New York City Opera in 2010 for performances as Laoula in L’Etoile following her performances in Cendrillon in 2007 where Variety wrote of her debut, “As the Fairy Godmother, coloratura soprano Katherine Jolly, delights with her endlessly flowing trills, runs and roulades.”

A winner of the 2006 Metropolitan Opera National Council Grand Finals, Jolly was praised by the New York Times who stated “Katherine Jolly used her agile, bright lyric soprano to superb effect in showpieces from Mozart’s Entführung aus dem Serail and Ariadne auf Naxos.” Jolly returned to the Met in the spring of 2010 to workshop An Enchanted Island with the company and was featured with City Opera’s VOX series in new operas, Acquanetta, and Josephine, broadcast on NPR. In addition to her Metropolitan Opera National Council Award, she has been the recipient of other awards including an honorable mention as a 2007 George London Finalist, the 2006 Opera Theatre Saint Louis William B. McMillan award, and a 2005 McAllister Career Grant.

Jolly received the Doctorate of Musical Arts and Master of Music degrees from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and has taught on faculty at Saint Louis University and Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. She is an Associate Professor of Voice at Oberlin Conservatory.