Kathleen Kelly
Opera coach KATHLEEN KELLY enjoys a wide-ranging career whose variety reflects her many interests and gifts. In September 2006, she began her duties at Houston Grand Opera with the dual titles Head of Music Staff and Music Director of the HGO Studio. She serves as the major coach of HGO’s respected professional training program, and oversees the day-to-day musical activities of the house. In April, she was the subject of a feature article for Playbill Arts, “Key Player,” detailing her new position with the company. In December, she made her HGO conducting debut, leading performances of HANSEL AND GRETEL in her own arrangement for chamber ensemble, to critical acclaim.
Summer of 2006 was also Ms. Kelly’s first season as Music Director of the Berkshire Opera Company in Pittsfield MA She assumed her duties there in August 2005 after three seasons of leading the company’s increasingly respected Resident Artist Program. In addition to forming the curriculum and faculty for that program, she conducted performances of THE SECRET MARRIAGE, TROUBLE IN TAHITI, THE OLD MAID AND THE THIEF, and L’HEURE ESPAGNOLE, all in her own chamber ensemble arrangements. She made her mainstage debut with the company in Donizetti’s L’ELISIR D’AMORE. In 2006 she was on the podium for an all-Mozart concert, HANSEL AND GRETEL, and MADAMA BUTTERFLY. She returned in August 2007 to conduct LA BOHEME.
In 2006, Ms. Kelly left her position as coach and prompter with the Metropolitan Opera, which she had held since 1997. Under Music Director James Levine, she specialized in German repertoire, including DER RING DES NIBELUNGEN, TRISTAN UND ISOLDE, LOHENGRIN, PARSIFAL, DIE MEISTERSINGER, WOZZECK, LULU, SALOME, ELEKTRA, CAPRICCIO, and DER ROSENKAVALIER. She assisted on the MET premieres of MOSES UND ARON, RODELINDA, and AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY. In addition to Maestro Levine, she has assisted many of opera’s most prominent musical leaders: Valery Gergiev, Patrick Summers, Donald Runnicles, Marco Armiliato, Marcello Viotti, Sir Andrew Davis, Sir Charles Mackarras, and James Conlon. She coached or assisted artists including Renee Fleming, Deborah Voigt, Karita Mattila, Kiri te Kanawa, Katarina Dalayman, Jane Eaglen, Patricia Racette, Deborah Polaski, Yvonne Naef, Olga Borodina, Dolora Zajick, Susan Graham, Placido Domingo, Marcello Giordani, Ben Heppner, Thomas Hampson, Nathan Gunn, Bryn Terfel, Rene Pape, and James Morris. . During her tenure, she was the subject of both a MET broadcast intermission feature and a Wall Street journal article.
Ms. Kelly also performs in recital with singers around the country. 2007 sees her in Dallas and Atlanta with the vibrant young Southeastern Festival of Song. In New York City, she will accompany Jaime Barton’s debut recital as part of Marilyn Horne’s ON WINGS OF SONG series. She has appeared on this series with Troy Cook and Jennifer Aylmer. She performed with Renee Fleming on “A Prairie Home Companion” in December 2005. At home at HGO, along with HGO Music Director Patrick Summers, she directs the company’s exciting new song recital series at Rienzi, in conjunction with the Museum of Fine Arts Houston. With Hector Vasquez, HGO Studio’s program director, she inaugurates a new series at The Tasting Room in Houston. She serves as official accompanist for HGO’s annual Eleanor McCollum competition.
Teaching continues to be a large part of Ms. Kelly’s resume. She is a special visiting artist at the Peabody Conservatory. In addition to her work with the HGO studio, she has been a guest coach for the Lindemann Young Artist Program, guest artist at the University of Michigan, and a master class clinician at Baylor University, Arizona State University, and the University of Washington.
Ms. Kelly’s earlier credits include a long association with the San Francisco Opera, where she received her training in the Merola Opera Program in 1991 and 1992. She has also worked at Opera Australia, Seattle Opera, Sarasota Opera, Tacoma Opera, and the Spoleto Festival. She was Director of Musical Studies for the Glimmerglass Opera’s Young American Artists in 2000 and 2001.
Ms. Kelly is married to Paul Chuey, a writer.
