Soprano Katharine Dain performs opera, chamber music, orchestral repertoire, and oratorio throughout Europe and North America. In recent seasons, she has been highly praised for her Konstanze in Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Rouen, Avignon, Clermont-Ferrand, Reims, and Massy) and Donna Anna in Don Giovanni (the Netherlands and Belgium with the Orchestra of the 18th Century, Hungary and Ecuador with the Armel Opera Festival). In December of 2020, Dain debuted with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under Antony Hermus in the premiere of a new work for soprano and orchestra by Bram Kortekaas. Other recent concert engagements include works of Dutilleux and Berlioz with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under Ryan Bancroft, song cycles of Zemlinsky and Berg under Reinbert de Leeuw in Austria’s Osterfestival, and Mahler’s Fourth Symphony with Grammy-award-winning chamber orchestra Ludwig.
Soprano Katharine Dain performs opera, chamber music, orchestral repertoire, and oratorio throughout Europe and North America. In recent seasons, she has been highly praised for her Konstanze in Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Rouen, Avignon, Clermont-Ferrand, Reims, and Massy) and Donna Anna in Don Giovanni (the Netherlands and Belgium with the Orchestra of the 18th Century, Hungary and Ecuador with the Armel Opera Festival). In December of 2020, Dain debuted with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under Antony Hermus in the premiere of a new work for soprano and orchestra by Bram Kortekaas. Other recent concert engagements include works of Dutilleux and Berlioz with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under Ryan Bancroft, song cycles of Zemlinsky and Berg under Reinbert de Leeuw in Austria’s Osterfestival, and Mahler’s Fourth Symphony with Grammy-award-winning chamber orchestra Ludwig.
scorching top notes … impressively elegant and thoughtful … penetrating artistry
THE TIMES LONDON
scorching top notes … impressively elegant and thoughtful … penetrating artistry
THE TIMES LONDON
A musician of unusual intelligence and curiosity, Dain is becoming known for fearless performances of modern repertoire as well as thoughtful program curation and writing.
Her recent album with pianist Sam Armstrong, Regards sur l’Infini, has been universally hailed in the press: “extraordinarily polished … glowing” (The Guardian); “a discovery … Dain sings with merciless beauty” (Trouw). Her last pre-Covid project was a tour with the NSO under Manoj Kamps in Wagner’s Liebestod and a newly-commissioned piece by Rick van Veldhuizen, a performance called “outstanding” by NRC. She has co-founded several chamber groups, including Damask Vocal Quartet, whose first album of works by Brahms and contemporaries, O schöne Nacht, won wide acclaim and the French award the Choc de Classica.
A musician of unusual intelligence and curiosity, Dain is becoming known for fearless performances of modern repertoire as well as thoughtful program curation and writing.
Her recent album with pianist Sam Armstrong, Regards sur l’Infini, has been universally hailed in the press: “extraordinarily polished … glowing” (The Guardian); “a discovery … Dain sings with merciless beauty” (Trouw). Her last pre-Covid project was a tour with the NSO under Manoj Kamps in Wagner’s Liebestod and a newly-commissioned piece by Rick van Veldhuizen, a performance called “outstanding” by NRC. She has co-founded several chamber groups, including Damask Vocal Quartet, whose first album of works by Brahms and contemporaries, O schöne Nacht, won wide acclaim and the French award the Choc de Classica.
pandemic projects
My work, like all performers’, has been severely affected by Covid-19 since March 2020. It’s unclear when restrictions on live events will ease and my schedule of performances will resume.
Although it has been a difficult time, I was lucky to be able to spend many isolated months working on a very special album/recital program with pianist Sam Armstrong. This work resulted in a disc of songs by Messiaen, Debussy, Delbos, Dutilleux, and Saariaho titled Regards sur l’Infini. Since its release on Dutch label 7 Mountain Records in late 2020, the critical response in the Netherlands, Belgium, the UK, and France has been overwhelmingly positive. The Guardian called it “a memorable, effortlessly polished album” and chose it as classical CD of the week; Volkskrant called it “sublime,” NRC “breathtaking,” Parool “exceptionally successful,” the Times “impressively elegant and thoughtful.” Read more about the project, listen to excerpts, and buy your own copy here.
In early December, I made an unexpected debut with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under Antony Hermus, jumping in on a few days’ notice to sing the premiere of a piece by Bram Kortekaas. The performance was filmed and streamed; watch an excerpt here.
Next season will be an exciting one for me if plans can go ahead: I will work with the Dutch National Opera, the Orchestra of the 18th Century, Tapiola Sinfonietta, Wonderfeel, the International Lied Festival Zeist, and numerous chamber groups in performances large and small. Fingers crossed!
pandemic projects
My work, like all performers’, has been severely affected by Covid-19 since March 2020. It’s unclear when restrictions on live events will ease and my schedule of performances will resume.
Although it has been a difficult time, I was lucky to be able to spend many isolated months working on a very special album/recital program with pianist Sam Armstrong. This work resulted in a disc of songs by Messiaen, Debussy, Delbos, Dutilleux, and Saariaho titled Regards sur l’Infini. Since its release on Dutch label 7 Mountain Records in late 2020, the critical response in the Netherlands, Belgium, the UK, and France has been overwhelmingly positive. The Guardian called it “a memorable, effortlessly polished album” and chose it as classical CD of the week; Volkskrant called it “sublime,” NRC “breathtaking,” Parool “exceptionally successful,” the Times “impressively elegant and thoughtful.” Read more about the project, listen to excerpts, and buy your own copy here.
In early December, I made an unexpected debut with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra under Antony Hermus, jumping in on a few days’ notice to sing the premiere of a piece by Bram Kortekaas. The performance was filmed and streamed; watch an excerpt here.
Next season will be an exciting one for me if plans can go ahead: I will work with the Dutch National Opera, the Orchestra of the 18th Century, Tapiola Sinfonietta, Wonderfeel, the International Lied Festival Zeist, and numerous chamber groups in performances large and small. Fingers crossed!
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February 27, 2021Someday, you will recognize how brave you were. Someday, you will recognize that your grief was reasonable, whether it was connected to a specific loss or not. Someday, you will (possibly) forgive yourself for your unearned privileges—a home, a few close people, tolerance of solitude, money and food enough, health care—that others suffered and died without. Someday, you will (possibly) forgive the politicians who dismissed the importance of your life's work during a crisis that stripped you... -
October 12, 2020I was shaken to learn last night that soprano and legendary teacher Ruth Falcon has died. I was lucky to study with Ruth at Mannes for three years. She was an exacting technician, a force of nature, someone who could be both boundlessly generous and terribly difficult. Although we haven't been close in many years, it's hard to believe she's gone. I remember our first lesson. I had been accepted to Mannes and was trying to... -
September 25, 2020Most of my concerts this spring, summer, and fall were cancelled. But not this one, which went off last week without a hitch, and thank goodness, because it was a complete pleasure from start to finish. Scroll down to listen to our Mahler and Schubert. Ludwig is a Dutch chamber orchestra that almost exclusively plays without conductor. (A notable exception is whenever they work with Barbara Hannigan, who sings and conducts; their 2018 album Crazy...
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