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Kara Cornell, Mezzo-soprano

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Opera and musical theater

Kara is primarily an operatic stage performer who is known for her rich, easily produced voice and engaging dramatics. Her expressive portrayal of roles has hailed her “a consummate actress” and a singer with “an infectious enthusiasm”, with roles ranging from a “totally endearing” Cinderella in Into the Woods to a “seductive, wounded, damaged and dangerous” Carmen in The Tragedy of Carmen. Recent operatic roles include “Cherubino” in Le nozze di Figaro, “Dorabella” in Cosi fan tutte, “Rosina” in Il barbiere di Siviglia, and the title roles in Carmen, Hansel and Gretel and Orfeo e Euridice. Musical theater roles include “Cinderella” in Into the Woods,

“Catherine” in Pippin, “Petra” in A Little Night Music and “Eliza Doolittle”

in My Fair Lady. Many of her roles have been performed with full orchestra.

Kara has been featured in staged

productions with numerous professional

companies. Most recently she has performed

leading roles with Union Avenue Opera

(St. Louis), Capital Opera (Albany, NY),

Opera Theater of Pittsburgh,

Smithtown Performing Arts Center

(Long Island), Mosaic Arts (New York)

and as a repeated artist with

Stony Brook Opera (New York),

Hubbard Hall Opera Theater

(Cambridge, NY), Center City Opera

(Philadelphia) and St. Petersburg Opera

(Florida).

.

Contemporary Music

Kara’s passion for contemporary music has led her to exciting new projects!

Kara enjoys collaborating with composers, and has sung numerous world

premiere operas, song cycles and orchestra pieces, including

Sacred Songs and Interludes, an oratorio written by Nancy Galbraith.

(recording available on CDbaby.com) Contemporary operatic roles include

“Miss Jessel” in Turn of the Screw by Benjamin Britten, “May” in Footfalls

by Earl Kim and “Jo” in Little Women by Mark Adamo. In December 2008,

Kara premiered songs inspired by Emily Dickinson; collaborating with

established composers, including composer and pianist Jane Leslie. The

pair immediately hit it off, and have collaborated in numerous concerts

throughout the New York area. In June 2010 she premiered the role of

“Sara” in Kristin Hevner’s Wednesday Before Last, commissioned by

Musaic Concert Series in New York City.

Jazz and Pop

Kara considers herself a diverse opera singer, as she can also perform leading roles in musicals, and performs jazz and pop in recital and on the radio. Kara’s 92 year old Grandfather is a jazz pianist, and his love of all things jazz has led her to often perform works by Gershwin, Porter and Hoagy Carmichael. Kara is also a member of “Venus”, a diverse four woman singing group that performs repertoire ranging from operatic-pop to Chinese folk song, with performances taking place in Beijing and in the Maryland/Washington D.C. area. (Kara and Grandpa courtesy of Peter Sanchirico and Venus courtesy of Venus)

Oratorio and Sacred Music

Kara enjoys performing oratorio and sacred works. She has performed the alto solos in many fully-orchestrated oratorios, including Handel’s Messiah, Judas Maccabaeus and The Utrecht Te Deum, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Honegger’s King David and Bach’s Chistmas Oratorio and St. John’s Passion. Kara has had the privilege to work most notably with The United States Naval Academy, The Pittsburgh Camerata, Aoede Music Consort, Williamstown Early Music, The Brooklyn Philharmonic, Burnt Hills Oratorio Society and Albany Pro Musica.

Education

A graduate of Smithtown High School (New York), Kara earned her bachelors degree, with college and university honors, from Carnegie Mellon University. She earned her masters degree from Stony Brook University. Both degrees are in vocal and music performance.

Awards

Kara has won several vocal awards, including “The Phyllis Bryn-Julson Award” through The Civic Morning Musicals Competition, and the 5 Towns Scholarship Competition Award. During college, Kara was awarded the “Award and Scholarship for Vocal Excellence” three years in a row. In 2009 and 2010, Kara received a “strategic opportunity stipend” through the New York Foundation for the Arts for the purpose of opera role study. In March 2010 Kara was a semi-finalist in the Amato Competition in New York City, and was also awarded the Grand Prize in the Mendelssohn Club of Albany’s vocal competition.

Teaching

In addition to being a performer, Kara also prides herself in being a dedicated

voice teacher. Kara has been teaching voice since 2002, and is currently an

adjunct professor of voice in the musical theater department at Russell Sage

College in Troy, NY. She also continues to teach privately from her home in

Albany County, NY. Kara teaches her students to eradicate tension in the body

while singing, and encourages an organic and free production of the voice.

This technique has allowed her students to be well-rounded, as she is, so they

can perform all types of music without strain. Kara also teaches students how

to manage performance fear and acting through music.

Hobbies

If you can believe it, Kara was not particularly interested in singing until she was

15 years old. As a painfully shy and sensitive child, Kara spent much of her time

alone her with pets and her arts-and-crafts. She also felt a strong pull to help

others. Though singing has become her biggest passion in life, Kara continues to

foster these hobbies. Kara enjoys making jewelry and crocheting hats and scarves

for The Children at Little Flower Children’s Services in NY. In 2005 she and her

now husband walked 40 miles in The Avon Walk for Breast Cancer and raised

over $6,000. Jokingly known as the “cat whisperer” at a NY animal shelter,

Kara domesticated over 30 feral cats who were then adopted by loving families.

Kara feels strongly about

supporting the local blood bank

and donates platelets and blood to

the New York Blood Center every

2-3 months. As a certified Reiki

Master, Kara does healing

work on human and animal clients,

and also teaches Reiki certification

classes. (Kara with one of her foster

cats, who now lives in a permanent

loving home)