Daughter of the Regiment 101 – Q&A with Katrina Galka

We’re excited to welcome Katrina Galka to Opera Colorado this fall to make her company debut as Marie in Daughter of the Regiment. An accomplished soprano, Katrina “thrilled with fine coloratura filigree and pure high notes” as Adina in Elixir of Love (The Oregonian). Learn all about Katrina in the Q&A below before seeing her on stage in Daughter of the Regiment. 

Get tickets to Daughter of the Regiment, on stage from November 9-17.>>

What is one thing about opera that keeps you interested in this craft?

Well, to put it lightly, let’s just say the never-ending pursuit of mastery and excellence. I’m obviously poking some fun at myself here but my drive to sing opera is powered by passion. There are days when it is infuriating just how never-ending the work of this craft is, but most days my reason for singing feels deeply spiritual, and I feel very fueled by the sheer possibility of creating something really special for an audience. There is something addictive for me about singing something and then saying, “Ok. That was great, but if I tried xyz, would that create more excitement for the audience?” Ultimately, I’m always asking myself, “How can I create a more magical, transcendent experience for whoever is listening?” And for me, creating magical experiences comes from mastery and excellence of the craft. The more excellent my vocal technique, the longer I can hold a high note, the faster and clearer I can sing a run of coloratura, the more feeling I can imbue in my voice, and maybe, just maybe, I can create a moment that surprises you in the best way possible. Likewise, the more excellent my acting skills, the more I can make you really believe that I am Marie and the more you believe that, the more you can lose yourself in the story. That is magical for an audience. The cool thing is, you never “arrive” with this kind of magic. Even if I were to create it for someone, it lasts for a moment and then disappears. That chase will always keep me interested, and it’s why I go to the opera. I always hope to be transported by an artist’s excellence and commitment to the moment.

In what ways do you see yourself in your character in Daughter of the Regiment, Marie? How are you different?

I relate to Marie’s “joie de vivre.” She is a character who exudes sunshine, finds the gift in each day, and really loves life, and I relate to that. I see her as being silly, quirky, and totally ok with laughing at herself, which I see in myself. I also relate to her despair and feelings of entrapment when she’s stuck living a life that doesn’t feel right. I have a strong inner compass that can make my life uncomfortable and unpleasant when I’m not following the call of my heart. I see that in Marie, especially in her moments of struggle in act two. At my core, I’d have to say I don’t feel that different from Marie—other than the fact that I haven’t grown up with twenty-plus surrogate fathers. I’ll definitely have to give some thought as to how that might change a person!

You’ve posted a few Instagram videos of you practicing barefoot. How much does your shoe choice and body awareness affect your singing?

This question is hilarious to me. I love using Instagram as a way to share joy for singing, and I try to share clips of my singing fairly often. I recently had a couple of clips I wanted to share, and I just happened to be barefoot, so I commented on it to be silly and to add some levity to what I was sharing. As committed as I am to excellence and mastery, I also think that it’s important to have fun and to be silly with our art. We can be light-hearted AND excellent. (Which, side note, I think TOTALLY captures Donizetti’s spirit in his composition of The Daughter of the Regiment!)

But you do raise a great point, because body awareness is everything for us as singers, and there is a lot of research that supports that being barefoot is excellent for establishing more functional body patterns. I, myself, have had various struggles related to hypermobility, and because of that I do like wearing a shoe with an exceptionally wide toe box and a flexible sole—à la the barefoot shoe trend. I have a favorite pair of sneakers by Barebarics, and I plan to buy more barefoot style shoes, because my whole body is happier for it! Singing is such a personal act. Every body is different and the demands of singing will affect each body uniquely, so building your own body awareness is absolutely necessary. On an average day, I can easily spend just as much time doing physical bodywork to support my body for singing as I do actually singing.

In addition to your singing career, you’re passionate about mentoring and coaching singers. Can you tell us more about that?

I love helping other singers build their careers from the inside out. I have a “let’s take care of your heart first” approach. What we do as singers is so difficult and so much of our success comes down to our mental game and being able to be resilient in our joy and love for singing. I’m very passionate about helping singers find that joy and self-compassion in what are often very demanding, competitive, and rejection-filled environments. I started doing this work because it was the kind of help I needed when I was starting out, and at the time, I couldn’t find it. So I decided to be that person for other singers. I started my coach training in 2019 and was certified by the International Coaching Federation in 2020 and since then I’ve worked with a lot of professional track opera singers. Some common themes that I work with singers on include working through performance anxiety, age-related fears (feeling either too young or too old), shame around vocal injuries, limitations, or technical blocks, trauma from various industry-centered relationships (i.e. teachers, directors, conductors, colleagues, etc), and a lot of audition strategy.

Congrats on your Opera Colorado debut! What are you looking forward to doing in Denver on your days off?

Thank you so much! I would love to eat at some great restaurants and to enjoy the natural beauty of this area—maybe doing a hike or two—and I’m looking forward to spending time with family and friends that live in the area. But if I’m being very honest, I will probably be spending the majority of my downtime resting, mentally rehearsing Daughter of the Regiment, and preparing for my next role debut, Musetta in La bohème with Staatsoper Hamburg.

–

See Katrina in Daughter of the Regiment, on stage from November 9-17.>>