Soprano Katrina Thurman has been praised for her “remarkably vibrant and flexible voice” (Gramophone) and her “wonderfully clear sound and natural warmth of character” (Opera News). She is a versatile artist who has built a solid reputation performing traditional operatic repertoire while specializing in contemporary opera and musical theatre. Her repertoire encompasses over 45 roles in six languages and has taken her to theaters including the Metropolitan Opera, Opéra de Lyon (France), Oper Bonn (Germany), Opera Philadelphia, The Dallas Opera, The Glimmerglass Festival, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Florentine Opera, New York City Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Opera Omaha, Utah Opera, Tulsa Opera, American Opera Projects, Syracuse Opera, Sacramento Opera, Anchorage Opera, Center for Contemporary Opera, and Aspen Music Festival, to name a few.

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Ms. Thurman is a noted specialist in contemporary opera and created the roles of Liz in Conrad Cummings’ The Golden Gate (American Opera Projects), Blanche Ingram in Louis Karchin’s Jane Eyre (Center for Contemporary Opera & recording on Naxos label), Isabella Beecher in Victoria Bond’s Mrs. President (Anchorage Opera), and Martha in Louis Karchin’s Romulus (American Opera Projects & recording on Naxos label). Other portrayals include Mrs. Naidoo in Philip Glass’s Satyagraha (Oper Bonn), Amy in Mark Adamo’s Little Women (Syracuse Opera), and Lightfoot McClendon in Carlisle Floyd’s Cold Sassy Tree (Opera Omaha tour). Recent seasons saw her debut with Opera Naples as Hildy in On the Town, creating and performing in the celebrated Love Notes series with East Passyunk Opera Project, her debut with Virginia Opera as Miss Lightfoot in Gregory Spears’ Fellow Travelers, and her stage debut with The Metropolitan Opera as Meretaten in Akhnaten.

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Ms. Thurman joined the Metropolitan Opera roster in 2018 where she was engaged for productions of Suor Angelica, Die Frau ohne Schatten, and Akhnaten. She possesses an impressive resume in traditional operatic roles including Adina in L’elisir d’amore (Lyrique en Mer, Sacramento Opera), Donna Anna cover in Don Giovanni (The Dallas Opera), Gilda in Rigoletto (Sacramento Opera), Musetta in La bohème (Florentine Opera, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and Piedmont Opera), Marzelline in Fidelio and the cover of Violetta in La traviata (Shippensburg Music Festival), the cover of Eurydice in Telemann's Orpheus (New York City Opera), Erste Dame in Die Zauberflöte (Tulsa Opera), Belinda in Dido & Aeneas (The Yard), Ninfa and the cover of La Musica in Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo (Glimmerglass Festival), Giannetta in L’elisir d’amore (Opera Philadelphia), and Ellen in Lakmé and Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro (Florida Grand Opera) as well as Berta in director Michael Shell’s sparkling Il barbiere di Siviglia (Opera Philadelphia and Opera Omaha).  

 

Thurman’s international debut as Venus in Rameau’s Dardanus with Oper Bonn was noted by Theater Rundschau as “vocally brilliant.” She returned to Bonn for performances as Mrs. Naidoo in Philip Glass’s Satyagraha and Aljeja in Janacek’s From the House of the Dead. Other international engagements include her French opera debut as Najade in Ariadne auf Naxos with Opéra de Lyon, Adina in L’elisir d’amore with Lyrique en Mer for which Ouest France celebrated her as a “feast for the eyes and ears,” and principal soloist in The Opera Show, which toured Spain, Italy, and England.

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In lighter fare, Ms. Thurman has captivated audiences in operetta and musical theatre, where she has been seen as Maria in The Sound of Music (Anchorage Opera), Rosabella in The Most Happy Fella (Tulsa Opera), Hanna Glawari in The Merry Widow (Shreveport Opera), Diana in Orpheus in the Underworld (Glimmerglass Festival), Lois Lane/Bianca in Kiss Me, Kate (Intermountain Opera), Sophie in Master Class (Alpine Theatre Company), Yum-Yum in The Mikado (Syracuse Opera), Gabrielle in La vie parisienne (First Coast Opera), Adele in Die Fledermaus (Syracuse Opera), and performing Gershwin standards in concert with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. Additionally, she covered Bianca/Lois Lane in Kiss Me, Kate directed by Diane Paulus with the Glimmerglass Festival. 

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Thurman made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2016 in Rutter’s Magificat with Manhattan Concert Productions and has since returned for Mozart’s Requiem, Gounod’s St. Cecilia Mass, and Haydn’s The Creation. She has been a soloist with Indianapolis Opera, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Utah Symphony, Omaha Symphony, and the Danbury Symphony Orchestra. She has received awards from the Jensen Foundation, the Classical Singer Competition, the American Traditions Competition, the National Opera Association, the Connecticut Opera Guild, the William C. Byrd Foundation, the Anna Sosenko Assist Trust, and the Schuyler Foundation. She holds a Master of Music from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and a Bachelor of Music from Oklahoma City University.