With a tone described as “rich” and “resonant” and performances noted for their vocal strength, nuance, musicality, and convincing dramatic portrayals, contralto Kimberly Gratland James enjoys an active performance career in symphonic and operatic venues. Recent and upcoming concert performances include Handel’s Judas Maccabeus with the Master Chorale of Flagstaff, Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 and Lieder eines fahrenden gesellen with the Great Falls Symphony, songs with chamber orchestra by Ethyl Smyth, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Idaho Falls Symphony. She made her Dallas Symphony début last spring as Wellgunde in Das Rheingold and will return this season for performances of Das Rheingold and Götterdämmerung. 

Ms. James is equally at home on the operatic stage, most recently performing the lead role of Cecelia in the comic opera Behold the Man with Opera Las Vegas. OperaWire called James the “perfect match” for the character: “…from her very first note and through her last, one might say she channeled the voice of Cecilia.” She also sang the role of Herodias in Rimrock Opera’s production of Salome. Additional recent operatic credits include Gertrude Stein in Ricky Ian Gordon’s powerful opera 27, also with Opera Las Vegas, Madame de Croissy in Dialogues des Carmélites, Principessa in Suor Angelica, and Mary in Der fliegende Holländer. She also joined the Helena Symphony to sing Marcellina in Le nozze di Figaro and the title role in Carmen.