Praised for her “powerful, rich, nuanced” voice and “emotionally moving” performances, Kathleen Felty is a recent alumna of the Lyric Opera of Chicago's Ryan Opera Center.  Felty received attention from the Chicago Tribune for her “clarion tone” and “compelling acting” in her mainstage debut as Laura in Verdi’s Luisa Miller in 2019.  She went on to perform alongside Sondra Radvanovsky in Lyric’s production of The Three Queens, which was released as an album in 2022.  In Lyric Opera of Chicago's 2021/2022 season Felty performed the role of Third Lady in Barrie Kosky’s production of Mozart’s Magic Flute, Carmen and Third Lady in The Magic Victrola, covered the role of Paula in Florencia en el Amazonas, and appeared in concert for Sunday in the Park with Lyric's Rising Stars, Rising Stars in Concert, and as the alto soloist for Beethoven’s 9th Symphony alongside Matthew Polenzani and Eric Owens, conducted by Sir Andrew Davis.  In 2022 Felty was again a regional winner of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition and awarded Second Place in the American International Czech and Slavic Vocal Competition.   She made her Des Moines Metro Opera debut as Third Lady in The Magic Flute and returned to the Santa Fe Opera to sing the role of Mercédès in Carmen in their 2022 season.  In the fall, she returned to UNCSA to sing the role of Storgé in Handel’s Jephtha and makes her debut with the Santa Fe Symphony on Christmas Eve for their concert, A Night at the Opera.  Felty will join Wolf Trap Opera as a Filene Young Artist to perform the role of Athamas in Handel’s Semele.

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Her other notable performances in Chicago include Lyric’s Rising Stars in Concert (2020, 2021), Sole e Amore, Magic Music Around the World, Twilight Gods, the Harris Theater’s Beyond the Aria series, and multiple recitals for Chicago’s WFMT Classical Radio.  Felty is a former apprentice artist of the Santa Fe Opera, where she received the Katharine Mayer Award and covered Komponist in Ariadne auf Naxos.  She has also participated in Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute Program for Singers and, more recently, the Solti Accademia di Bel Canto fellowship program in Italy. Felty made her North Carolina Opera concert debut as Clotilde in Norma and her Dayton Opera debut in the role of Maddalena in Rigoletto. 

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A native of Lubbock, Texas, Kathleen Felty holds Bachelor Degrees in Music and Business Administration from Texas Tech University and a Master of Music from the AJ Fletcher Opera Institute at the North Carolina School of the Arts. Her Fletcher performances include Charlotte in Werther, Angelina in La Cenerentola, Unulfo in Rodelinda, Miss Jessell in Turn of the Screw, Geneviève in Impressions de Pelléas, Dinahin Trouble in Tahiti, Komponist in Ariadne auf Naxos, and Paula in Florencia en el Amazonas.  Felty is a six-time District Winner of the Metropolitan Opera's Laffont Competition and a winner of the Charlotte Opera Guild Vocal Competition and the Heafner Williams Vocal Competition.