British-American soprano Kathryn Frady has been widely praised for her vocal range and dramatic talent. Kathryn continues to create dynamic and vivid characters, thrilling audiences and critics alike throughout the United States and Europe. Recent credits include roles with New Orleans Opera, Opera Carolina, Knoxville Opera, Cleveland Opera Theatre, Wichita Grand Opera, the Helena Symphony, Knoxville Symphony, Chattanooga Symphony, Marble City Opera, Opera West!, Opera in the City Festival, London, England; The Mediterranean Opera Festival, The Pierre Cardin Theatre in Paris, Diversita Opera Company in Dallas, and the National Opera Center in New York City. Upcoming performances include Tosca with Marble City Opera, Alice Ford in Falstaff with Diversita Opera Company in Atlanta, and Strauss’s Four Last Songs with the Oakridge Philharmonia. 

 

Kathryn’s performance of La Traviata with Marble City Opera was named "Most Memorable Operatic Performance of 2017 by Arts Knoxville, which noted that Kathryn's voice possessed "the silky subtlety and delicacy to contrast with the requisite power the role demands.  Her performance was dramatically personal and intensely musically satisfying.” Of her most recent performance of Poulenc’s The Human Voice, Arts Knoxville noted “Frady’s brilliance as a soprano capable of riveting the audience’s attention - in vocal depth, in lyrical beauty, and in a marvelously conceived ebb and flow of posture and attitude - was as rewarding as it gets in theater.” TN Today called the same performance “nothing short of a tour de force.”

 

A passionate advocate and prolific performer of modern operatic repertoire, Frady has been honored to perform two leading roles in World Premier productions of Griffen Candey's operas. Frady performed the role of Kate in Griffen Candey's Sweets By Kate and Jo in Candey's Follow Suit. Kathryn’s performance of Amelia in the World Premier of Larry Delinger’s opera Amelia Lost, was named “Most Memorable Operatic Performance of 2014.” Arts Knoxville called the performance “a sensational theatre experience.” Kathryn has also reprised the role in Cleveland, New York, and London. The composer has since dedicated the opera to Frady.

 

 

 

Critically acclaimed stage director Kathryn Frady has worked throughout the United States, Europe, and South Africa. As Executive Artistic Director of Marble City Opera, Kathryn has produced and directed more than 35 new productions and world-premieres. She won "Most Memorable Opera in Knoxville" for productions in 2014, 2017, and 2019. As a leading pioneer in producing opera in alternative spaces, Kathryn's recent production of Gallantry was praised by Arts Knoxville, who wrote, “Kudos to Stage Director Kathryn Frady for an accomplishment that reminded the audience what theatre is all about.” Kathryn was also named among the "10 Women who make a Difference in Knoxville" by the Knoxville Mercury newspaper. In 2019, A Step Ahead Foundation recognized Kathryn as a Trailblazer in her field.

 

A passionate advocate of new works, Kathryn directed the world premiere of Larry Delinger's Shadowlight, which Arts Knoxville called "A Stunning Celebration of the Art and Life of Beauford Delaney" in a "marvelously immersive" production. Other recent credits include productions of Dido and Aeneas at Baldwin Wallace University, Beneath Suspicion at Marble City Opera, Cold Sassy Tree at Amarillo Opera, Tosca at North Carolina Opera, Barber of Seville and L’elisir d’amore for Wichita Grand Opera, Barber of Seville for Knoxville Opera, H.M.S. Pinafore for The Living Opera, and new opera works at Cleveland Opera Theater. International credits include work on Carmen for Opera Africa in Pretoria and Johannesburg, Amelia Lost with the Opera in the City Festival in London; and L’elisir d’amore for the Centre for Opera Studies in Sulmona, Italy.

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Kathryn Frady is the Executive Artistic Director and Founder of Marble City Opera. The company’s mission is to cultivate a new following for opera by producing authentic, thought provoking, and innovative performances of contemporary and traditional works utilizing found spaces and other non-traditional venues thereby creating a more intimate and accessible atmosphere for its audience. 

 

With Marble City Opera Kathryn has envisioned and brought to life 26 fully staged productions since 2013; including nine premieres, and three in the works. In 2016 Kathryn was named one of ten Women in Knoxville who make a difference by The Knoxville Mercury. Since 2013 Marble City Opera as won the most memorable opera performance of Knoxville on several occassions; in 2014 for the World Premiere of Amelia Lost, in 2017 for their production of La Traviata, and in 2019 for their production of Suor Angelica. Marble City Opera continues to receive outstanding reviews and is reaching a new and growing audience. 

 

Kathryn has a BM and MM in Opera from the University of North Texas, Certificates in Executive Women in Leadership and Diversity and Inclusion from Cornell University and is currently working towards a Fundraising Management Certificate from Boston University. Other training includes Opera America's prestigious Leadership Intensive, class of 2021.