Bio
In a career spanning over two decades, mezzo-soprano Catherine Cook has excelled in a wide range of roles with leading opera companies throughout the United States, including The Metropolitan Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Opera Colorado, Opera Philadelphia, Portland Opera, Opera Parallele, and Santa Fe Opera. She returns to Opera Colorado following past performances as Ježibaba in Rusalka and as Julia Child in April in Paris.
Recent highlights include Berta in The Barber of Seville in a drive-in production, Marcellina in a new production of Le Nozze di Figaro, and Mother Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life all with San Francisco Opera; Camila in the North American Premiere of Thomas Adès’s The Exterminating Angel at the Metropolitan Opera, which was also broadcast live in HD; and the Innkeeper in a semi-staged version of Boris Godunov with the San Francisco Symphony with Michael Tilson Thomas conducting.
Since her debut with San Francisco Opera, Ms. Cook has appeared in over fifty productions culminating in more than 350 performances. Some highlights include the title role in Tobias Picker’s Dolores Claiborne, Jade Boucher in the world premiere of Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking, Marcellina in Le Nozze di Figaro, Emilia in Otello, Mrs. Sedley in Peter Grimes, and Annina in Der Rosenkavalier.
Ms. Cook’s discography includes Dead Man Walking (Heggie)/Erato, After Life (Cipullo)/Naxos, The Parting (Cipullo)/Naxos, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Cincinnati Philharmonic Orchestra, released by Centaur Records. In addition to her performing schedule, Ms. Cook is on the Voice Faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory, where she holds the Frederica von Stade Distinguished Chair in Voice. (266)