Kathryn Cowdrick

Trained as a speech and voice pathologist, Kathryn Cowdrick is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University and received her master’s degree cum laude in speech and voice pathology from Columbia University. She studied at Juilliard with the American Opera Center. She was honored with Penn State’s Outstanding Alumni Award from the School of Arts and Architecture in 2004. Miss Cowdrick teaches studio voice and graduate vocal pedagogy and is a contributor and adjudicator for Classical Singer Magazine. She frequently gives master classes on performance pedagogy and vocal health.

She began her career when awarded an Adler Fellowship with the San Francisco Opera and went on to appear in many roles with the company that include Meg Page in Falstaff, Paulina in Pique Dame, Siebel in Faust, and in their productions Die Walkure, Die Zauberflöte, , Il Ritorno di Ulysse, Romeo et Juliette, Manon , Der Rosenkavalier, Il Turco in Italia, and The Medium. She was well known for her elegant portrayals of Rossini heroines, and made her European debut at the Netherlandse Opera as Rosina in Dario Fo’s controversial production of Il Barbiere di Siviglia. She went on to sing Rosina and the title roles in both L’Italiana Algeri,Le Comte Ory and  La Cenerentola for companies that include Scottish Opera, San Francisco Opera’s tour,  the Merola program, Vancouver Opera, Cologne Opera, L’Opera de Marseilles, Chautauqua, Kentucky Opera, Utah Opera, San Francisco Opera, and the National Arts Center in Ottawa, Opera Memphis and New York City Opera.

Cowdrick can be heard as Charmian on the New World Record’s 1984 Grammy Award winning recording of Barber’s Antony and Cleopatra, recorded live at the Spoleto Festival where she also appeared in Ken Russell’s televised production of Madama Butterfly. She performed Karolka in Jenufa with the Opera Orchestra of New York, which was recorded live from Carnegie Hall on Grammaphone Bis. She is featured  on the Eastman Opera Theatre recording of Bon Appetit/This is the Rill- an operatic monologue by Lee Hoiby and Julia Child –for Albany Records. She also performed the piece for Julia Child’s induction into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 2007.

In addition to her teaching duties, she is in demand as one of today’s foremost singing actresses, appearing in the Merry Wives of Windsor for Washington Opera, Return to Mecca for Wexford Festival Ireland, Sweeney Todd for the Princeton Festival and Augusta Opera, The Daughter of the Regiment for Kentucky and Arizona Opera, Eugene Onegin for Tulsa and Kentucky Opera, The Ballad of Baby Doe for Augusta Opera, Little Women and the Pirates of Penzance for Fort Worth Opera, Cosi Fan Tutte and A Little Night Music for Wildwood Festival ,Falstaff with Opera Illinois, Katya Kabanova for Los Angeles Opera and Postcard from Morocco for Opera Festival of NJ.

Appearances  since 2002 include the title role in The Medium for Eastman Opera Theatre, The Mikado and Le Nozze di Figaro for New York City Opera and Opera New Jersey, Marcellina in Le Nozze di Figaro Arizona and Utah Opera, the Witch in Hansel and Gretel for Augusta Opera, Berta for Florentine Opera’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia , Ruth in The Pirates of Penzance for Lake George and Chautauqua Opera, the Marquise in Le Fille du Regiment for Kentucky , Arizona and Lake George Opera, Il Matrimonio Segreto, Gianni Schicci/Buoso’s Ghost , Candide and the professional premiere of  Our Town for Lake George Opera, Madama Butterfly for  Artpark  and Mercury Opera Rochester, and the title role of Orfeo for Opera Memphis and Ballet.