Hailed by the Boston Globe as “balmy-voiced” and for her “uniformly excellent” performances, mezzo-soprano Katherine Beck returned to Arizona Opera during the 2023/24 season to create the role of Elizabeth Lavenza in the world premiere of Gregg Kallor’s Frankenstein. In recents seasons, she had her first performances of Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Florentine Opera and joined the Saint Louis Symphony as Lola in Cavalleria rusticana. Also in Rossini repertoire, she returned to the Lyric Opera of Chicago for its production of Le comte Ory and joined Dallas Opera for Così fan tutte. 

She made her debut with the Lyric Opera of Chicago whilst a member of the Ryan Opera Center as Wellgunde in Twilight: Gods, a reimagining of the final chapter of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen. She also joined Music Director Enrique Mazzola for songs of Donizetti and Verdi on the “Sole e Amore” digital recital program, sang excerpts of Marquise Melibea in Il viaggio a Reims on the Rising Stars Concert, and of the title role of Carmen at “Sunday in the Park” at Millennium Park.

She is also an alumna of the Marion Roose Pullin Opera Studio and has previously sung Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, Mary Johnson in Spears’s Fellow Travelers, Flora in La traviata, Madeleine Audebert in Puts’s Silent Night, and Catherine Wright in Hagen’s Shining Brow with the company. Beck made her Santa Fe Opera debut as Karolka in Jenufa while an Apprentice Artist and sang her first performances of Sesto in Giulio Cesare with Pittsburgh Festival Opera. She recently joined Opera Buffs in Los Angeles as Angelina in La cenerentola following earlier performances of Mercedes in Carmen. With Opera Colorado, she created the role of Lisette in Cohen’s Steal a Pencil for Me with Opera Colorado and sang previous performances of La cenerentola in student performances.

Beck is a winner of the prestigious George London Foundation Award, the LuminArts Vocal Fellowship in Chicago, and second place in the Annapolis Opera Vocal Competition. She is also a former semi-finalist of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.