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Katherine
Pracht

Mezzo-Soprano
Katherine Pracht
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Biography

Katherine Pracht

In 2021, mezzo-soprano Katherine Pracht created the role of Horatio in the world premiere and recording of Joseph Summer's Hamlet in Ruse, Bulgaria. She then sang her first Miss Jessel in The Turn of the Screw with Miami’s IlluminArts, and reprised the title role in Elizabeth Cree with West Edge Opera earning rave reviews from Joshua Kosman in the San Francisco Chronicle: "In the title role, Pracht combined lustrous singing with a quicksilvery theatrical temperament as she cycled through Elizabeth’s rapid shifts in character" and Georgia Rowe in Opera News "Pracht was an agile, intelligent, and well-sung Elizabeth, her shapely mezzo-soprano registering with clarity in each scene." This season, Pracht covered the role of Charlotte Malcolm in Sondheim’s A Little Night Music at Arizona Opera. Upcoming performances in 2022 include a role debut as Madeline Mitchell in Heggie's & Sheer's Three Decembers followed by a workshop of Kaminsky's & Moore's February at Opera on the Avalon. Pracht then makes her role debut as Cornelia in Handel’s Giulio Cesare followed by a workshop of Stookey's & Davis's Bulrusher at West Edge Opera. In October, she returns to her hometown of Davenport, Iowa to sing Beethoven 9 with the Quad-City Symphony, and looks forward to making a role and house debut as Mary Johnson in Spears' & Pierce's Fellow Travelers at Virginia Opera in 2023. Previous seasons' performances include 2019 role debuts as Countess Charlotte Malcolm in Sondheim’s A Little Night Music for Madison Opera; Ottavia in Monteverdi’s L’Incoronazione di Poppea with Jory Vinikour conducting from harpsichord at Florentine Opera; Kate Julian in Britten’s Owen Wingrave with Little Opera Theater of New York; and Princess Linetta in Prokofiev’s The Love for Three Oranges in Opera Philadelphia’s O19 Festival. In concert, Ms. Pracht sang the mezzo solos in Duruflé’s Requiem with Christopher Bell conducting The Washington Chorus; Voices of Light by Richard Einhorn (film by Carl Dreyer) presented by National Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorale; and Messiah with Toledo Symphony. 2017-18 engagements included the workshop of Opera Philadelphia's world premiere of We Shall Not Be Moved by Daniel Bernard Roumain, playing the role of Glenda; a reprisal of alto solos in Philip Glass' Symphony No. 5 for Trinity Wall Street (recording released Aug. 2019 on Orange Mountain Music label); the role of Lady Wang in Bright Sheng’s epic opera, Dream of the Red Chamber on tour in Changsha, Beijing, and Wuhan, China; a critically acclaimed title-role debut as Elizabeth Cree by Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell for Chicago Opera Theater, where the Chicago Tribune said “Katherine Pracht brought a mezzo of size and quality, and confident dramatic presence, to the complicated title role.” Ms. Pracht also debuted as Mariam in the AOP-sponsored workshop of Sheila Silver’s opera, A Thousand Splendid Suns; performed A Bernstein Marathon with Steven Blier and the New York Festival of Song as well as Arias & Barcarolles and other Bernstein songs with NYFOS, presented by the Lyric Opera of Kansas City and Exeter Academy. She sang a reprisal of Karl Jenkins’ The Armed Man and was the featured soloist in the world premiere of Sing! The Music Was Given at Carnegie Hall with Distinguished Concerts International New York; Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky with the York Symphony; Stravinsky’s Requiem Canticles with The Orchestra NOW, and Dunyasha in The Tsar’s Bride with American Symphony Orchestra at Bard Summerscape Festival, both under the baton of Leon Botstein. In 2016-17, Pracht made her Kennedy Center debut as soloist in Philip Glass' Symphony No. 5 with The Washington Chorus. She also sang the US premiere of Richard Wernick's "...and a Time for Peace" with Leon Botstein and the American Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, and created several roles in new works workshops: Florence Williams in Susan Kander’s new opera The News From Poems, Hester Prynne in Eric Sawyer's The Scarlet Professor, and Eve in Julian Wachner and Cerise Jacobs’ Rev 23 for the Prototype Festival. Additionally, Ms. Pracht performed Bernstein’s Arias and Barcarolles accompanied by Bright Sheng and Michael Barrett for The Intimacy of Creativity 2017 Festival in Hong Kong. In the 2014-15 season, Pracht made role debuts as Sharon Falconer in Elmer Gantry with Florentine Opera, Ariel in the premiere of Joseph Summer’s The Tempest for The Shakespeare Concerts in Boston recorded by Albany Records, and Flora Bervoix in Opera Philadelphia’s La Traviata. She covered the role of Baroness “Nica” in Daniel Schnyder’s Charlie Parker’s YARDBIRD commissioned for Opera Philadelphia, and sang Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with the York Symphony, and Lieberson’s Neruda Songs with Grand Rapids Symphony. In 2013-14, Pracht made her Carnegie Hall debut as Alto Soloist in Verdi's Requiem, her debut with Opera Philadelphia as Third Lady in Die Zauberflöte, twice sang Der Trommler in Der Kaiser von Atlantis for Central City Opera with the Colorado Symphony and for Chicago’s New Millennium Orchestra, sang Meg in Little Women directed by David Gately for Opera on the James, two concerts with the Georgia Symphony Orchestra and Chorus singing John Corigliano’s Fern Hill and Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky, Alto soloist in Elijah for Blacksburg Master Chorale, Mozart’s Requiem for NYC’s Choral Society of Grace Church, and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with Black Pearl Orchestra. Pracht’s 2012-13 season began with the role of Mrs. McLean in Florentine Opera’s production of Susannah, followed by the role of Guenevere in Orchestra Kentucky's Camelot, and Prince Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus with Opera on the James. The 2011 season included her Dallas Opera debut as Stephano in Gounod's Romeo et Juliette, followed by a turn as Rosina in Opera on the James's Il barbiere di Siviglia, and the role of Julia in the world premiere of Kirke Mechem’s The Rivals for Skylight Opera Theatre. In 2010, Pracht made her international/Radio France debut singing Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte with Lyrique-en-mer Festival in Belle-ile, and her Avery Fisher Hall debut in Schumann’s Scenes from Goethe’s Faust with the American Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Pracht has been a Metropolitan Opera Competition Regional finalist in San Antonio, Memphis, and Minneapolis.





Expertise

Instrument

Mezzo-Soprano