Biography
Soprano Katherine Jolly focuses on physical and mental wellness in her teaching, using yoga, dance, and mindfulness exercises to support solid vocal technique. Jolly has presented workshops of coauthored research on yoga, singing, and performance anxiety at conferences of the Voice Foundation, Performing Artists Medical Association, National Association of Teachers of Singing, and the College Music Society.
She is a frequent judge and clinician with organizations including the National Opera Association, Schmidt Foundation, Opera Theatre Saint Louis, NATS, and ArtsBridge.
A bright, accomplished singer on opera and concert stages, Jolly has appeared in leading coloratura and soubrette roles in multiple seasons with Opera Theatre Saint Louis, Houston Grand Opera, Florida Grand Opera, New York City Opera, Virginia Opera, Amarillo Opera, Piedmont Opera, Union Avenue Opera, Lyric Opera Cleveland, American Lyric Theatre, and others. In the concert arena, she has performed with organizations including the Phoenix Symphony, the Richmond Symphony, Bach Society of Saint Louis, Chamber Project STL, Sacramento Choral Society and Orchestra, Northwest Florida Symphony, Sinfonia Gulf Coast, and Musica Sacra.
Jolly is a winner of the 2006 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions Grand Finals, about which the New York Times wrote: "Katherine Jolly used her agile, bright lyric soprano to superb effect in showpieces from Mozart’s Entführung aus dem Serail and Ariadne auf Naxos.” Jolly returned to the Met in spring 2010 to workshop An Enchanted Island and was featured with City Opera’s VOX series for new operas in Acquanetta and Josephine, which was broadcast on NPR.
In addition to her Met Opera honors, Jolly has received awards from the George London Foundation, Opera Theatre Saint Louis, and the McAllister Foundation.
Jolly earned Doctorate of Musical Arts (2015) and Master of Music (2001) degrees at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Barbara Honn and Thomas Baresel. She completed a Bachelor of Music (1999) at Boston University under the tutelage of Phyllis Hoffman.
Jolly has been a member of the faculty at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, where she received a New Frontiers Grant for Creative Activity, and at Saint Louis University. At Saint Louis, she was awarded a Mellon Faculty Career Grant and was a 2016-2017 finalist for the Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award in the College of Arts and Sciences. Jolly is represented by Berger Artist Management.
