Kathryn Lewek

Kathryn Blomshield Lewek[1] is a coloratura soprano singer.

Kathryn Lewek
Born1983 (age 37–38)
East Lyme, Connecticut
Alma materEastman School of Music
Music Academy of the West
OccupationOpera singer (soprano)
Websitewww.kathrynlewek.com

Early life and education

Lewek began playing piano and singing at a very young age but only during high school realized that she could turn it into a career.[2] She did her studies at the Eastman School of Music before coming to Diana Soviero who set her forth.[3] In 2009, she became a fellow at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California where she continued her coloratura soprano studies with Marilyn Horne.[1]

Career

From 2011 to 2017 Lewek sang Handel's Messiah with the Oratorio Society of New York at Carnegie Hall. During those years, she also performed both Mozart's and Verdi's Requiems, as well as Mass in B minor and Christmas Oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach.[4]

In 2013, regarding her Carnegie Hall début in Händel's Messiah, Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim of The New York Times praised her "Communicative verve and thrilling beauty". She also commented on hers O daughter of Zion performance, especially the speed and word choices calling the 'He shall speak peace' part as "lovingly ornamenting the cadence in a way that was both original and entirely subservient to the music."[5]

She was advised not to sing the Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute, but despite it, has performed the role hundreds of times in the finest opera houses in Europe and the United States.[3] She has sung at Aix-en-Provence and in Barcelona.[2] In 2017 she appeared as Ginevra in Cecilia Bartoli's Ariodante at the Salzburg Festival.[3] She has also sung the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor.[4]

In 2017 she and Susanna Phillips sang the Mass in C-minor of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.[6]

Since 2013, Lewek has performed Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute at the Metropolitan Opera every season.[4] The same year, she was scheduled to perform Cunegonde in Leonard Bernstein's Candide with Washington National Opera, but pulled out due to pregnancy and was replaced by Emily Pogorelc.[7]

In 2018 she sang as Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos with the patronage of the Deutsche Oper Berlin.[8]

In 2019 Lewek accused critics of insulting her figure, who called her body shape "buxom" and "stocky".[9]

References
  1. Karen McCally. "She's Queen of the Night". 76. University of Rochester.
  2. "Interview with … Kathryn Lewek". Revopera. August 25, 2017. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
  3. Louise T. Guinther (May 2017). "Sound Bites: Kathryn Lewek". Opera News.
  4. Chris Ruel (December 19, 2018). "Interview: Soprano Kathryn Lewek, The Queen Who Refused To Sing". Opera Wire. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
  5. Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim (December 25, 2013). "Handel Well Populated, Onstage and Off". The New York Times. p. C8.
  6. Lawrence A. Johnson (January 24, 2017). "Two star sopranos light up Mozart with Music of the Baroque". Retrieved November 26, 2019.
  7. Francisco Salazar. "Emily Pogorelc To Replace Kathryn Lewek In WNO's 'Candide'". Opera Wire. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
  8. "Review: Santa Fe Opera's Delectable New "Ariadne auf Naxos" – Santa Fe Opera, July 28, 2018". Opera Warhorses. July 30, 2018. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
  9. Brown, Mark (August 28, 2019). "US soprano Kathryn Lewek accuses opera critics of body-shaming". The Guardian. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
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