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CATHERINE MARTIN
MEZZO-SOPRANO
BIOGRAPHY
Praised by The Washington Post for her “gorgeous, warm voice that you want to keep listening to,” American mezzo-soprano Catherine Martin continues to make an impact in repertoire ranging from Verdi and Wagner to Strauss and Bellini. Last season, Ms. Martin returned to The Metropolitan Opera to cover Giulietta in Les contes d’Hoffmann and The Atlanta Opera to sing Juno in Semele. Moreover, she joined the Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera as Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana and Detroit Opera to sing the District Attorney in The Central Park Five. This season, Ms. Martin returns to Lyric Opera of Chicago to sing the role of Page and cover Herodias in Salome, and she returns to The Metropolitan Opera to cover the Countess de Coigny in Andrea Chénier and Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde.
Ms. Martin is a frequent guest artist with The Metropolitan Opera having appeared there to cover Sister Helen Prejean in Dead Man Walking, Preziosilla in La forza del destino, and Marguerite in Berlioz’s Le damnation de Faust. With the Lyric Opera of Chicago, she has covered the roles of Eboli in Don Carlos, Sister Helen Prejean in Dead Man Walking as well as sung the roles of Eva Crowley in An American Dream, Waltraute in Twilight: Gods, and Hécube (while covering Didon) in Les Troyens.
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Other highlights from recent seasons include her Atlanta Opera début as Waltraute in Die Walküre; a role début as Fricka in Dayton Opera’s Das Rheingold; Amneris in Aïda with Houston Grand Opera, Opera Carolina, Opera Colorado, and Opera Santa Barbara; Maddalena in Rigoletto with New Orleans Opera and Opera Santa Barbara; Herodias in Salome with Dayton Opera; Adalgisa in Norma with Florida Grand Opera; Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana with Opera Colorado; Geneviève in Pelléas et Mélisande and Clarice in The Love for Three Oranges with Des Moines Metro Opera; Mistress Quickly in Falstaff and Eboli in Don Carlos for Maryland Lyric Opera; Orfeo in Orfeo ed Eurydice with Kentucky Opera; Witch in Hansel and Gretel with Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra; Der Komponist in Ariadne auf Naxos at The Glimmerglass Festival; Meg in Falstaff with Intermountain Opera; Leonora in La favorita with New Amsterdam Opera; Annina and the cover of Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier with the National Symphony Orchestra; Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen with the American Youth Philharmonic Orchestra; Messiah with the Handel Oratorio Society; Waltraute in Twilight: Gods with Michigan Opera Theatre; and performances in various roles from Wagner’s Ring Cycle with Houston Grand Opera, Washington National Opera, Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood, the Dallas Symphony, and the National Taichung Theatre in Taiwan.
Ms. Martin is also an avid interpreter of contemporary opera. She has appeared as Sister Helen Prejean in Dead Man Walking with Minnesota Opera and Dayton Opera; the Minkswoman in Flight with Dallas Opera; Mary in the world premiere of The Lion, the Unicorn, and Me with Washington National Opera; Genevieve in The Long Christmas Dinner with American Symphony Orchestra; Tamara in Enemies, A Love Story with Kentucky Opera; Sara Miller in Approaching Ali with Washington National Opera; and the world premiere of Angela Rice’s Thy Will Be Done with the National Chorale at Lincoln Center.
An alumna of the Houston Grand Opera Studio, she has performed Dorabella in Così fan tutte, Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, Anna in Maria Stuarda, Flora in La Traviata, Berta in Il barbiere di Siviglia, and Dryad in Ariadne auf Naxos with HGO. There, she worked extensively with conductor Patrick Summers and covered artists such as Susan Graham, Joyce DiDonato, and Michelle DeYoung in roles such as Der Komponist, Sister Helen, and the title roles of Xerxes and The Rape of Lucretia. She was a member of The Glimmerglass Festival Young Artists Program and was a Filene Young Artist with Wolf Trap Opera.
Ms. Martin was a Grand Finalist and the only female representing the United States in the 2017 International Viñas Competition held at Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu. She received Richard Tucker Award nominations in 2015, 2016, and 2017 and was 2nd Place winner of the 2016 Maryland Lyric Opera Competition, 2nd place winner in the 2013 Jensen Competition, a semi-finalist in the 2012 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, a finalist in 2012 and an Encouragement Award winner in 2013 in the George London Competition, winner of the 2011 National Opera Association Competition, a semi-finalist in the Hans Belvedere Competition, and has won awards from the Eleanor McCollum Competition at Houston Grand Opera, The Dallas Opera Guild, and Annapolis Opera. She has received The Richard F Gold Career Grant at both Houston Grand Opera and Wolf Trap and the Catherine Filene Shouse Career Grant.
A native of San Antonio, Texas, she holds a master’s degree from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Texas.
Current as of June 17, 2025
CRITICAL ACCLAIM
"... vocal power and richness..." – DC Theater Arts
Falstaff – "Martin displays probably the most subtle and effective physical acting of any member of the cast while impressing with her vocal power and richness."
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"... unleashing a wave of sound..." – Washington Classical Review
Don Carlo – "Mezzo-soprano Catherine Martin, remembered fondly from her time in WNO’s Cafritz Young Artists program, made a fiery Princess Eboli. She was flirtatious in her “Veil Song” and then just as venomous when she learned she was not loved by Carlos, unleashing a wave of sound in the striking Act II scene with Carlo and Rodrigo. Her Act III showpiece, “O don fatale,” featured blistering high notes of rage.”
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"... her buttery, rich mezzo-soprano..." – Opera News
Twighlight: Gods – "Catherine Martin, as Waltraute, detailed Wotan's deterioration in her buttery, rich mezzo-soprano. . . Martin sang with fearless intimacy, masterful vocal integrity and the flawless diction that was this production's hallmark."
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"... a thoroughly convincing and beautifully sung performance..." – Minnesota Star Tribune
Dead Man Walking – “It's hard to imagine a stronger or more dramatically apt cast. . . Catherine Martin's Sister Helen displays a similar kaleidoscope of emotions in a thoroughly convincing and beautifully sung performance.”
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"... Martin was an exceptional talent..." – BachTrack
The Long Christmas Dinner – “Catherine Martin was an exceptional talent whose lush overtones gave rise to a sound that resonated to all parts of the hall. Undoubtedly capable of doing great justice to Wagner, Martin carried her part tastefully in the more intimate setting.”
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"... the terrific Catherine Martin..." – The Washington Post
Ariadne auf Naxos – “the terrific Catherine Martin, a mezzo familiar to Washington audiences who sang with assurance and a firm, golden voice."