Katherine Ciesinski, an accomplished American mezzo-soprano, is renowned for her rare communicative presence, discrimination, and intelligence. With a fully integrated career, she explores the world of contemporary composers alongside the established classics of the lyric stage.
Major operatic credits include three Metropolitan Opera productions: Judith in Bluebeard's Castle, Nicklausse in Les Contes d'Hoffmann, and Comtesse de Coigny in Andrea Chenier. Other notable performances include Cassandre in Les Troyens at Covent Garden, Adalgisa in Norma with Scottish Opera, Laura in La Gioconda with San Francisco Opera, and Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier with Dallas Opera.
She has also performed in world premieres of Mark Adamo's Little Women, Dominick Argento's The Aspern Papers, Maurice Ohana's La Celestine, Girolamo Arrigo's Il Ritorno di Casanova, and Param Vir's Snatched by the Gods. Her repertoire spans a wide range of roles, including Giulietta in Brussels, Brangäne in Toronto, Judith in Frankfurt and Stuttgart, Eboli in Madrid, and La Favorite in Paris.
Ms. Ciesinski has performed with many of the world's leading orchestras, including the Cleveland, Minnesota, and Philadelphia Orchestras, the Symphonies of Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, Houston, and Toronto, as well as European orchestras such as the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics, L'Orchestre de Paris, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Dresden Staatskapelle, and L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande.
In addition to her operatic career, Ms. Ciesinski is a respected recitalist, having performed across the United States and in Paris, Cologne, Zurich, Milan, and at the Aix-en-Provence, Geneva, Spoleto, and Salzburg Festivals. Her contemporary chamber music activities have included performances at the Caramoor Festival, New York; Musica Festival, Strasbourg; Ars Musica Festival, Brussels; Festival d'Automne, Paris; Voix Nouvelles, Fondation Royaumont; Schlern International Festival in Italy, and with the Ensemble Intercontemporain in Paris.
Ms. Ciesinski's opera recordings include the title roles in Ariane et Barbe-Bleue, Regina, Sapho, Siegrune in Cleveland Orchestra's Die Walküre, and Sonia in War and Peace. She received a Grammy nomination for her performance as Paulina in The Queen of Spades with Seiji Ozawa and the Boston Symphony.
Ms. Ciesinski is also a dedicated teacher, serving as Professor of Voice and Chair of Voice Studies at the Moores School of Music, University of Houston. Her students have gone on to join the faculties of Michigan State University, the University of California San Jose, and apprentice programs at the Des Moines Metro, Orlando, and the Santa Fe Operas.
