Katherine Henly
Soprano
Praised worldwide for her captivating and affecting portrayals in genres ranging from opera to musical theater, jazz, and pop, American soprano Katherine Henly has performed with Los Angeles Opera, Washington National Opera, The Muscat Royal Opera House, Hawaii Opera Theatre, Charlottesville Opera, Virginia Opera, The New York Musical Theatre Festival, The New York International Fringe Festival, and The O’Neill National Music Theater Conference. For her eleventh-hour debut with Oper Köln in Street Scene, Resmusica raved “Finally, in Sam Kaplan and Rose Maurrant, we discover two of the most promising American singers… Radiant physically and vocally, very moving also in the farewell scene, Katherine Henly, is not to be outdone in that of her beloved – a performance all the more impressive under the circumstances. The very young American soprano, passing through Cologne, had indeed replaced in the last minute a suffering colleague during several rehearsals – without having yet sung the role on stage before. The Cologne Opera thanked her with a performance that marked both her European debut and her acting debut. A career definitely to follow.”
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Jul 24
Charlottesville, VA
Artist Bio
Praised worldwide for her captivating and affecting portrayals in genres ranging from opera to musical theater, jazz, and pop, American soprano Katherine Henly has performed with Los Angeles Opera, Washington National Opera, The Muscat Royal Opera House, Hawaii Opera Theatre, Charlottesville Opera, Virginia Opera, The New York Musical Theatre Festival, The New York International Fringe Festival, and The O’Neill National Music Theater Conference. For her eleventh-hour debut with Oper Köln in Street Scene, Resmusica raved “Finally, in Sam Kaplan and Rose Maurrant, we discover two of the most promising American singers… Radiant physically and vocally, very moving also in the farewell scene, Katherine Henly, is not to be outdone in that of her beloved – a performance all the more impressive under the circumstances. The very young American soprano, passing through Cologne, had indeed replaced in the last minute a suffering colleague during several rehearsals – without having yet sung the role on stage before. The Cologne Opera thanked her with a performance that marked both her European debut and her acting debut. A career definitely to follow.”
Last season, Ms. Henly debuted the role of Musetta in Peter Rothstein’s critically acclaimed production of La bohème with Theater Latté Da in Minneapolis and returned to Charlottesville Opera as Valencienne in The Merry Widow. This season, Katherine will perform the role of Clorinda in Opera Maine’s production of La Cenerentola and can be seen in concert with Grand Junction Symphony Orchestra.
Recent seasons saw her debut as Clorinda in Rossini’s La cenerentola, conducted by Gavriel Heine for the Northern Lights Music Festival and performances as a soloist in Preludes: Lyrics & Lyricists, a five-part online series filmed on the historic stage of the 92nd Street Y. Additional recent performances include the world premiere of Maria Thomson Corley’s The Sky Where You Are commissioned by An Opera Theatre and streaming online as a part of Decameron Opera Coalition’s Tales From A Safe Distance; and as a soloist in Glad Jul, a holiday concert produced by Motarbeider, the Støttet av Kulturrådet Norsk kulturfund, and the Nord-Odal Kommune, filmed in the historic Sand Kirke in Nord-Odal, Norway, December of 2020. She made her off-Broadway debut as Elsa in Sheldon Harnick’s musical Dragons at The York Theatre Company, and can be heard on the studio recording with Tony Award-winner Michael Cerveris. Ms. Henly has also seen solo performances with Utah Lyric Opera, Utah Valley Symphony Orchestra, Grand Junction Symphony Orchestra, The Ramsey Wind Symphony, Palisades Virtuosi, Worcester Symphony Orchestra, Camerata New York, and in concert at Mechanics Hall and Carnegie Hall.
Ms. Henly has completed Young Artist residencies with Utah Festival Opera, Charlottesville Opera, and The Glimmerglass Festival. She is a graduate of Ithaca College (B.M.) and Brigham Young University (M.M.).
Updated January 13, 2023
Video
“Quando m’en vo” from Puccini’s La bohème
“We’ll Go Away Together” Street Scene
“Chacun le sait” from Donizetti’s La fille du régiment
“The Beauty Is” The Light in the Piazza
“I could have danced all night” from Rogers and Hammerstein’s My Fair Lady
Pictures
Press
"...her voice and finesse captivating the entire theater..." – The Ithacan
– "Shining brightest is Katherine Henly, who plays La Musica. Covered in gold dust, each and every word she delivers is accompanied by a smile, with her voice and finesse captivating the entire theater. Moreover, her gorgeous costume…is a goddess’s garment. Its long and gentle flow perfectly matches the angelic beauty of Henly herself."
"...sparkled in her coloratura moments" – Worcester Telegram and Gazette
– "Henly sparkled in her coloratura moments in the late songs of the piece, making her appearance as an Ethel Merman-like exponent of Broadway show numbers in the next part of the program all the more startling."
"it was Katherine Henly whose voice stayed with the audience." – UVU Review
Carmina Burana – "Though each was amazing in his or her own right, it was Katherine Henly whose voice stayed with the audience. She sang with such beauty and emotion that though her words were foreign, there was no doubt as to their meaning.”
"Radiant physically and vocally" – ResMusica
Street Scene – "Radiant physically and vocally, very moving also in the farewell scene, Katherine Henly, is not to be outdone in that of her beloved - a performance all the more impressive under the circumstances. The very young American soprano, passing through Cologne, had indeed replaced in the last minute a suffering colleague during several rehearsals - without having yet sung the role on stage before. The Cologne Opera thanked her with a performance that marked both her European debut and her acting debut. A career definitely to follow.”
"...had the audience in the palm of her hand" – One Fan Show
La bohème – “Katherine Henly as Musetta had the audience in the palm of her hand as much as her on-again, off-again lover Marcello, and together their warm, heady voices washed over us.”