photo by Lisa Kohler

Kelly Kaduce
Soprano
New England First Place Winner 1999
National Council Winner 1999	review

Kelly Kaduce is swiftly gaining national recognition for her “plangent, amber-toned soprano, glamour girl looks and artless, affecting dramatic style.” (Opera News) Since winning the 1999 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Ms. Kaduce has garnered thunderous praise for her stage portrayals. As Marguerite in Faust with Florida Grand Opera the Sun-Sentinel stated, “The attractive Kaduce was perfectly cast as the pure-hearted heroine, her bright, youthful soprano strikingly even throughout its range. Her ‘Jewel Song’ was agile and vivacious, and her lyrical singing in the love duet was heartfelt and sensitively shaded. Marguerite’s final prayer in the trio provided the evening’s most thrilling moments.”

Kelly Kaduce begins the 2006-2007 season with a reprise of her touching Cio-Cio San in Madama Butterlfy for Boston Lyric Opera and will star in two world premiere productions. Minnesota Opera will welcome her as Rosashorn in Ricky Ian Gordon's The Grapes of Wrath followed by the title role in Anna Karenina by composer David Carlson for Florida Grand Opera. The production moves to Opera Theater of St. Louis in Summer of 2007. She returns to Santa Fe Opera for the American premiere of Tan Dun's Tea: A Mirror of Soul as Princess Lan.

The 2005-2006 season offered three role debuts for the young American soprano. She began the season with her acclaimed portrayal of Marguerite for Nashville Opera’s Faust and then essayed her first Susannah by Floyd, for her Orlando Opera debut. She then reprised Caroline Gaines for the East Coast premiere of Margaret Garner with Opera Company of Philadelphia, followed by a return engagement at New York City Opera as the ill-fated seamstress in La Bohème. In May, Ms. Kaduce sang her first performances of Thaïs in her company debut with Boston Lyric Opera and made a triumphant return to Opera Theater of St. Louis for the American Premiere of Michael Berkeley’s Jane Eyre directed by Colin Graham and paced by Andreas Mitisek.

Kelly Kaduce's engagements in the 2004-05 season included her return to Minnesota Opera to sing her first performances of Cio-Cio-San in the original version of Madama Butterfly directed by Colin Graham. She welcomed the spring with performances of Micaëla in Carmen with Nashville Opera immediately followed by the world premiere of Richard Danielpour and Toni Morrison’s Margaret Garner as Caroline Gaines at Michigan Opera Theater. She then summered at the Bard Music Festival's Summerscape as Birdie in Regina, under the baton of Leon Botstein.

In the 2003-04 season, Ms. Kaduce’s operatic roles included Juliette in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette with Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni with Florida Grand Opera. She headlined in the Los Angeles production of Baz Luhrmann's La Bohème as Mimì, and followed that with a riveting portrayal of the title role in Suor Angelica with Opera Theatre of St. Louis. Of those performances Opera News stated “Kelly Kaduce brought uncommonly expressive tone and emotional eloquence to the title role; in the final scenes, the audience was gripped by the shocking realism of Kaduce’s portrayal, as Sister Angelica lives through hallucinations and spiritual torment to achieve salvation.” Ms. Kaduce also appeared as soloist in Britten's War Requiem and Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with the Boston University Symphony Orchestra at Symphony Hall. She made her Santa Fe Opera debut as The Chinese Actress and ZhiZhen in the world premiere of Bright Sheng’s Madame Mao in the Summer of 2003.

Ms. Kaduce made her New York City Opera debut in the Fall of 2002 as Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel. Additional engagements during the 2002-03 season included her return to Florida Grand Opera as Mimì in La Bohème, her first performances of Pamina in Die Zauberflöte with Atlanta Opera, Micaëla in Carmen at the Krannert Center, performances of Mimì in La Bohème with Lyric Opera of Waco, and a solo recital at Boston University.

In the 2001-02 season, Kelly Kaduce sang her first performances of Marguerite in Faust with Austin Lyric Opera followed by an impressive company debut at Florida Grand Opera in the same role filling in for an ailing colleague. She later debuted in her home state’s Minnesota Opera as Mimì in La Bohème, and sang Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel with Opera Colorado.

Ms. Kaduce's engagements in the 2000-01 season included Mimì in La Bohème with Opera Delaware, and Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel with Sarasota Opera. She also appeared with the Florida Philharmonic Orchestra in the summer of 2000 as soloist in Beethoven's Egmont and with the Boston University Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in Mahler's Symphony No. 2.

Ms. Kaduce is represented by Herbert Barrett Management, Inc.

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