Katherine Donner

Biography

Katherine Calcamuggio Donner is an award-winning mezzo-soprano who has been featured in important role  and company debuts across the United States, eliciting kudos for her “soaring, rich voice” (The Miami Herald), her “polished musical and dramatic characterizations” (Kurt Weill Newsletter) and her “fine coloratura technique” (Philadelphia Inquirer).

Equally at home on the operatic, concert and recitals stages, she has a diversified performing portfolio, with favorite roles and works including the comic and light-hearted operatic roles of Ruth in Pirates of Penzance (Kentucky Opera), Buttercup in HMS Pinafore (Union Avenue Opera), Julia Child in Bon Appetit! (Opera Lynchburg), Hansel in Hansel and Gretl (Syracuse Opera).  Although she loves perform comedic roles, she frequently performs  more dramatic concert roles as the mezzo-soprano soloist in Verdi’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, and performing the soprano soloist in John Corigliano’s Mr. Tambourine. As an active recitalist, she has travelled across the United States with the Piatigorsky Foundation, performing over one-hundred and fifty recitals over the last ten years.

Dr. Calcamuggio Donner holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts from University of Michigan, a Master of Music from Northwestern University, and a Bachelor of Music from Bowling Green State University.  She is currently an Associate Professor of Voice at the University of Louisville.

Research Interests

As an active researcher, I am engaged in interdisciplinary, collaborative research as part of a vocal health care team composed of an otolaryngologist, three speech pathologists, and myself.  We strive to create a vocal health community at the university that is inclusive to students as well as community members in the greater Louisville area.  The team has presented at the Summer 2022 NATS National Conference in Chicago, and we continue to present locally to our voice using community.  

It is imperative to cultivate young minds with classical music that is reflective of their lived experience.  To that end, I fulfilled the roles of associate editor and curator for the anthology Modern Music for New Singers:  21st Century American Art Songs volumes 1 and 2.  I selected repertoire for the burgeoning high school and college mezzo-soprano voice with the intention of highlighting the unique tone, range, character, and versatility of the instrument.  The anthology amplifies the work of composers and poets who are representative of our diverse, American musical quilt of race, ethnicity, gender, age, and sexual orientations.  

Degrees and Certifications

Publications

All Scholarly and Creative Works