Emily Albrink Katz

Biography

Lauded by the New York Times as "delightful and vocally strong and versatile", Emily Albrink has been heard in a wide array of operatic roles and concert works. She has appeared in leading roles with Kentucky Opera, Charlottesville Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Opera Boston, Indianapolis Opera and Chicago Opera Theater and has been a featured soloist with orchestras including the Boston Symphony, the Chicago Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony, the Phoenix Symphony, and the Louisville Orchestra.

A champion of new music, Ms. Albrink’s first solo album Force of Nature debuted at #1 on the Classical Billboard charts with pianist Kathleen Kelly featuring world premiere commissions by Jake Heggie, Nailah Nombeko, Rene Orth, and Steve Rouse.  She has performed the role of Tatiana Bakst in Cincinnati Opera's workshop performance of Jake Heggie's Great Scott and performed the West Coast premiere of Heggie's song cycle Rise and Fall with the composer at the piano. She played Evvy in the US premiere of Tod Machover's Death and the Powers: The Robots' Opera with the American Repertory Theater and Chicago Opera Theater. She has performed at Carnegie Hall in John Adams' Grand Pianola Music, the role of Nuria in Osvaldo Golijov's opera Ainadamar (with Dawn Upshaw and the Orchestra of St. Luke's under the baton of Robert Spano), and in the world premiere of Clarice Assad's Confessions, which served as her Carnegie debut. Ms. Albrink went on to perform Ainadamar with the Colorado Music Festival, Opera Boston, the Phoenix Symphony, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Early in her career, Ms. Albrink fulfilled a residency with the Washington National Opera (WNO) as a member of the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program and has since then returned often to the company's roster. She performed in WNO's special gala concert featuring Nathan Gunn, the role of Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel, Sophie in Werther, Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, Frasquita in Carmen, Second Niece in Peter Grimes, Echo in Ariadne auf Naxos, and Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro.

Ms. Albrink's performances of works from the classical canon include her Alice Tully Hall debut performance of Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte with the Baltimore Symphony conducted by Marin Alsop, Despina in Così fan tutte and die Vertraute in Elektra, both under the baton of James Levine. A native of Louisville, KY, she has sung seven leading roles with the Kentucky Opera over the past ten years. Ms. Albrink made her international debut with the Indianapolis Symphonic Choir on a ten-day tour of China as the soprano soloist in performances of Brahms' Deutsches Requiem.

In addition to her operatic and concert experience, Ms. Albrink has a deep affinity for the American musical theatre tradition and has appeared as Magnolia in Show Boat (Kentucky Opera), Julie Jordan in Carousel (Charlottesville Opera), and Marian Paroo in The Music Man (Charlottesville Opera). She has also collaborated with pianist and composer, Rob Kapilow on his What Makes it Great? series devoted to songs from the American Songbook at The Celebrity Series of Boston, Stanford Lively Arts, and at the University of Louisville.

Ms. Albrink holds a Master of Music degree and a Professional Diploma from the Manhattan School of Music and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre from the University of Michigan. She currently resides in Louisville, KY where she is an Associate Professor of voice at the University of Louisville School of Music. She and her husband, David, have two boys.

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