Mezzo-Soprano Kathleen Simunek is a second-year master's student at the Jacobs School of Music under the tutelage of Dr. Paulina Villarreal. A midwest native raised in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Simunek graduated from Indiana University with a Bachelor of Science in Music (Voice) with an Outside Field in Political Science in 2024, studying with Professor Timothy Noble. In February 2026 she performed as Fanny Price in the IU Opera Theater’s production of Mansfield Park. Simunek received an Encouragement Award in the 2026 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition – Idaho-Montana District, and the 2nd Place Award at the 2026 Indianapolis Matinee Musicale Competition. Simunek appeared as Maman/La Tasse Chinoise/La Libellule in IU Opera’s 2025 production of L’enfant et les sortilèges. Summer 2025 she participated in the American Institute of Musical Studies (AIMS) Opera Studio in Graz, Austria where she performed as a soloist in concert with the AIMS Festival Orchestra, as well as in their Opera Scenes Concert. In March 2025 at the Studios of Key West she performed the roles of Granny, Beata and the Landlady in Martin Hennesy’s new work Swimming in the Dark. In 2024 Simunek was seen with the IU Opera Theater as Esther Klayman in the world premier of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay in collaboration with the New York Metropolitan Opera. With the IU Opera Theater, Simunek has performed in the choruses of L’Étoile, Candide, The Merry Widow (Clo-Clo), Eugene Onegin, Sweeney Todd, Suor Angelica (Suor Dolcina), Carmen, and Oklahoma! In 2023 she received the second-place award in the Oscar Hammerstein Solo Contest. During the summer of 2023, she studied in Vienna, Austria through the Institute of European Studies as a performer and student manager. Simunek has also appeared in a variety of different performance ensembles throughout the years including the IU Ballet Theater Nutcracker Chorus, University Chorale, and Fort Wayne Children’s Choir.