Katie Van Kooten

• Soprano

Biography

In the 2010-2011 season  Katie Van Kooten returns to Houston Grand Opera in her role debut as Ellen Orford in Britten's Peter Grimes under the direction of Patrick Summers in a new production by Neil Armfield, and makes her house debut in a new production with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City as the Countess Almaviva in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro. On the concert platform she debuts with the San Francisco Symphony in a special New Year's Eve program with Dmitry Sitkovetsky, and will give performances throughout the United Kingdom with the BBC Philharmonic singing Strauss' Four Last Songs and Mozart's Requiem.

Recently Ms. Van Kooten made her house debuts at the Metropolitan Opera in the acclaimed Nicolas Joël production of La Rondine as Magda and at Houston Grand Opera as Helena in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream. She made her debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in 2004 as Magda in La Rondine and return performances there have included Antonia in Les Contes d'Hoffmann opposite Rolando Villazón and led by Antonio Pappano, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Mimi in La Boheme, and Marguerite in Faust. She made her Japanese debut as Micaëla in Carmen under the direction of Seiji Ozawa, and her United States debut performing Marguerite in Gounod's Faust with the Metropolitan Opera on the Great Lawn of Central Park.

In concert, Katie Van Kooten has sung Mozart's Requiem with the London Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Vladimir Jurowski and Strauss' Four Last Songs with the Halle Orchestra led by Edward Gardner

A graduate of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, Ms. Van Kooten studies voice with Rudolf Piernay. She received her Bachelor's degree in vocal performance from Biola University where she studied with Dr. Jeanne Robison and is a graduate and perpetual member of the Torrey Honors Institute.