Biography
Mezzo-soprano Katherine Drago recently completed a three-year residency with Pittsburgh Opera where she was consistently praised for her solid singing and sharp characterizations. While in Pittsburgh, she appeared in six productions, highlights of which include Meg Page in Falstaff, Mercedes in Carmen and the Stewardess in Flight. She covered in an additional four productions and performed Romeo in I Capuleti e I Montecchi and Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro during student matinee performances as well.
In the summer 2009, as a second-year Apprentice Artist with the Santa Fe Opera, Katherine made her role debut as Zerlina in Don Giovanni after stepping in at the last minute for the final three performances. Also, during the 2008-09 season she debuted with Opera Vivente in the role of Ottavia in The Coronation of Poppea.
Other credits include Marquise de Merteuil/The Dangerous Liaisons and Dinah/Trouble in Tahiti both at CCM; Ruth/Pirates of Penzance (Music by the Lake); Orlofsky/Die Fledermaus (Rising Star Opera Theater); Hansel/Hansel and Gretel (Milwaukee Opera Theater, Opera for the Young).
In addition to being an Apprentice Artist with The Santa Fe Opera (2008, 2009), she was a featured young artist with Chicago Opera Theater, Berkshire Opera, The Lake Placid Institute and Intermezzo Opera. While with Chicago Opera Theater she debuted on their main stage in the role of Venere in L’Incoronazione di Poppea and sang the role of the French Mother in their critically acclaimed production of Death in Venice.
An active soloist, she most recently debuted with the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra in Lafayette, LA and has also sung with the Lebanon Symphony (OH), Asheville Symphony, Peninsula Music Festival, Cheyenne Symphony, Chatham Baroque, Erie Philharmonic, Berkshire Choral Festival, and an evening of songs by Ricky Ian Gordon with the composer at the piano. Ms. Drago is the recipient of awards from the National Association of Teachers of Singing, the Bel Canto Foundation, The Santa Fe Opera (Donald S. Graham Memorial Award), and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.
A native of Chicago, she holds degrees from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) and Northwestern University. Immediately upon graduating from Northwestern, Ms. Drago toured the United States with the Broadway National Tour of The Phantom of the Opera in which she performed the roles of the Wardrobe Mistress and Confidante. This season’s engagements include a concert of music by Ricky Ian Gordon with the composer at the piano for Five Boroughs Music Festival in NYC, a return to the Santa Fe Symphony for Handel’s Messiah, as wells as presenting “The Nuts, Bolts, & Secrets of Covering” for Opera America’s Making Connections series.