Kathryn Cowdrick
as Julia Child

Kathryn Cowdrick, mezzo-soprano

Opera News has described Kathryn Cowdrick as "an artist who brightly infused every scene with her singing, dazzling fioratura, and her sexy, warm, comedienne personality", a remark which seems to convey the essence of this charismatic mezzo-soprano.

A native of Allentown, Pennsylvania, Kathryn Cowdrick is a graduate of Penn State and Columbia University with degrees in Speech and Voice Pathology.  She went on to work in as a speech therapist in New York City before beginning studies and performing with the Juilliard Opera Center.  She is now a member of the voice faculty at the Eastman School of Music and is featured on the Eastman Opera Theatre's Albany recording of Bon Appetit!/This is the Rill Speaking as Julia Child.  She was honored to perform this for Julia Child’s induction into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 2007.  Miss Cowdrick lives in Penfield with her husband Robert Swensen (also a member of the voice faculty at Eastman) and their son Matthew.  Miss Cowdrick made her debut with Mercury Opera in the company’s inaugural season as Suzuki in Madama Butterfly.

Miss Cowdrick began her career when awarded an Adler Fellowship with the San Francisco Opera and went on to appear in many roles with the company, including Meg Page in Falstaff, Paulina in Pique Dame, Siebel in Faust, and in their productions of Die Walküre, Die Zauberflöte, Il Ritorno di Ulysse, La Traviata, Adriana Lecouver, Romeo et Juliette, Manon, Der Rosenkavalier, Il Turco in Italia, and The Medium.  She was well known for her elegant portrayals of Rossini heroines, and made her European debut at the Netherlands Opera as Rosina in Dario Fo’s controversial production of Il Barbiere di Siviglia.  She went on to sing Rosina and the title roles in both L’Italiana Algeri and La Cenerentola for companies including Scottish Opera, San Francisco Opera’s tour,  Vancouver Opera, Cologne Opera, L’Opera de Marseilles, Chautauqua, Kentucky Opera, Utah Opera, Koln, San Francisco Opera, and the National Arts Center in Ottawa, Opera Memphis, and New York City Opera.

Cowdrick can be heard as Charmian on the New World Record’s 1984 Grammy Award winning recording of Barber’s Antony and Cleopatra, recorded live at the Spoleto Festival where she also appeared in Ken Russell’s televised production of Madama Butterfly.  She performed Karolka in Jenufa with the Opera Orchestra of New York starring Leonie Rysanek, which was recorded live from Carnegie Hall on Grammaphone Bis.

Miss Cowdrick’s international and regional opera appearances have included Meg Page (Merry Wives of Windsor) for Washington Opera, Niklausse (Les Contes d’Hoffman) and Smeton (Anna Bolena) for Virginia Opera and Lyon, Balkis (Return to Mecca) for Wexford Festival Ireland, Mrs. Lovett (Sweeney Todd) for the Princeton Festival and Augusta Opera, the Marquise (The Daughter of the Regiment) for Kentucky Opera, Arizona Opera and Lake George Opera, the Old Woman (Candide) for Lake George Opera, Madame Larina and Filipevna (Eugene Onegin) for Tulsa Opera, Arizona Opera and Kentucky Opera, Augusta Tabor (The Ballad of Baby Doe) for Augusta Opera, Elizabeth Proctor (The Crucible) for Tulsa Opera, Aunt March (Little Women) for Fort Worth Opera, Dorabella (Così fan tutte) for the Wildwood Festival and Los Angeles Opera, Countess (A Little Night Music) for Wildwood Festival, Meg Page (Falstaff) with Opera Illinois, Varvara (Katya Kabanova) for Los Angeles Opera, and the Foreign Singer (Postcard from Morocco) for Opera Festival of NJ.

In addition to her teaching duties, she is in demand as one of today’s foremost singing actresses. Recent appearances include the title role in The Medium with students in the Eastman Opera Theatre and in productions of The Mikado for New York City Opera and Opera New Jersey, Dialogue of the Carmelites for Arizona Opera, Marcellina in Le Nozze di Figaro for Opera Omaha, Arizona Opera and Utah Opera, the Witch in Hansel and Gretel for Augusta Opera, Berta for New York City Opera, Tulsa Opera and Florentine Opera’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Ruth in The Pirates of Penzance for Lake George, Fort Worth and Chautauqua Opera, the Marquise in Le Fille du Regiment for Kentucky Opera, Arizona Opera, and Lake George Opera, Il Matrimonio Segreto, Gianni Schicci/Buoso’s Ghost for Lake George Opera, Madama Butterfly for Artpark and Mercury Opera Rochester, Mrs. Gibbs in the professional premiere of Our Town by Ned Rorem at Lake George Opera, and the title role of Orfeo for Memphis Opera and Ballet in 2010.

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