KATHRYN LEWEK
SOPRANO
BIOGRAPHY
American soprano Kathryn Lewek is a born communicator. Combining charismatic stage presence with a voice of sumptuous range, crystalline purity, and rich emotional power, she headlines major productions at the foremost opera houses and festivals worldwide, from New York’s Metropolitan Opera to Austria’s Salzburg Festival. Lauded in an increasing array of leading lyric and dramatic coloratura roles, including Mozart’s Queen of the Night, the signature role with which she has repeatedly broken records, Lewek also wins accolades for her orchestral collaborations and sensitive interpretations of contemporary art song. As the New York Times recognizes, “singing like Lewek’s is what the magic of opera is all about.”
Lewek continues to expand her range with role debuts in twoclassic operas in the 2024-25 season. Singing opposite her husband, tenor Zach Borichevsky, in both productions, she gives her first performances as Micaela in Nashville Opera’s season-opening staging of Bizet’s Carmen, before making her house and role debuts as Puccini’s Musetta in Opera Colorado’s La bohème. In reprises of four leading roles, she headlines Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette at Palm Beach Opera, sings Gilda in Verdi’s Rigoletto at Cincinnati Opera, makes her Asia debut in the title role of Delibes’s Lakmé with the China National Opera House Symphony at Winland IFC’s Christmas Gala Concert in Beijing, and revisits Mozart’s Queen of the Night in three productions of The Magic Flute. At the Berlin State Opera, she stars alongside René Pape in August Everding’s staging of the opera, which reconstructs the iconic 1816 set design, and at New York’s Metropolitan Opera she reprises her star turns in both Julie Taymor’s family-friendly treatment of the opera and Simon McBurney’s uproarious full-length production. In seasons to come, Met audiences can also look forward to seeing Lewek as Musetta in La bohème and in the title role of Verdi’s La traviata. Meanwhile, her present season includes concert performances with Borichevsky in Connecticut and of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Kent Tritle and the choir of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City.
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CRITICAL ACCLAIM
"...the unquestioned star of the show is soprano Kathryn Lewek..." – Chicago Sun Times
Le Comte Ory – "But the unquestioned star of the show is soprano Kathryn Lewek, who revels in the preening role of a prima-donna opera singer portraying the spoiled Adèle in this opera within an opera, drawing cheers all afternoon long. With a lovely, high-flying soprano
voice, she handles the coloratura demands with thrilling ease."
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"...This is perhaps her most inspired turn to date..." – OperaWire
Die Zauberflöte – “Kathryn Lewek has become the Met Opera’s go-to Queen of the Night. Of her 44 performances at the Met to date, all of them have been in this role. And while it is easy to play this “villain” in one dimension, Lewek always seems to find shades and colors to explore. This is perhaps her most inspired turn to date.”
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"...Kathryn Lewek was utterly enthralling..." – The New York Times
Die Zauberflöte – “...the soprano Kathryn Lewek was utterly enthralling, emitting richly glowing bursts of notes like a collapsing star in “O zittre nicht.” She careered around the stage in a wheelchair during “Der Hölle Rache,” bringing thrilling drama to a coloratura showpiece so fiendish that sopranos are lucky to get through it when they’re standing stock still.”
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"...death-defying..." – Broadway World
Die Zauberflöte – “...the death-defying Kathryn Lewek…”
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"...one of opera’s most thrilling coloratura sopranos of this generation..." – BG Independent News
La Traviata – “Kathryn Lewek, who will be debuting the role of Violetta, has established herself as one of opera’s most thrilling coloratura sopranos of this generation. She has performed some of the most vocally challenging roles in the repertoire, joining the top-ranking operatic performers of all time”
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"...The effect is spellbinding..." – Classical Music
Apollo de Dafne – “Having led Handel’s Messiah, Orlando and Ariodante onstage, soprano Kathryn Lewek here turns to Handel cantatas. Her selection is shrewd: Armida abbandonata and Apollo e Dafne both channel technical, affective and dramatic prima donna power. Lewek wields this power majestically. . . Lewek builds on these distinctions in how she modulates her instrument and elaborates her melodies. Her Armida commands vocal muscle and jagged cadenzas, while her Dafne is all limpid purity sprinkled with agréments. The effect is spellbinding.”
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"...especially luscious at its stratospheric top..." – Opera News
Ariodante – “Lewek may not yet be as celebrated a performer as Bartoli, but here she is every bit as much a star. Her coloratura, more conventionally ‘bound’ than Bartoli’s, is consistently brilliant, and her voice is especially luscious at its stratospheric top. The central moment of her portrayal is the Act II aria 'Il mio crudel martoro'. Lewek turns it into a thirteen-minute tour de force of mournful utterance, using a seemingly shortness of breath to portray how profoundly the young woman has been wounded.”
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"... with eerie ease and enormous sound..." – The New York Times
Die Zauberflöte – “Indeed, when the soprano Kathryn Lewek, as the Queen of the Night, sang her character’s dazzling and demonic aria, many people started clapping halfway through, right after she dispatched the famous music’s bursts of coloratura passagework with eerie ease and enormous sound. Yes, she was quite a sight in her fantastical costume, a mothlike figure with multiple flapping wings. But it was her singing that had some children near me sitting up in their seats and breaking into applause.”
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"... Lewek sparkled both vocally and dramatically..." – operaexplorer
Orphee – “Kathryn Lewek sparkled both vocally and dramatically – she is a natural for such opera buffa or operetta type of roles”