Kathryn Lewek: The Record-Breaking Soprano Taking Opera By Storm
Discover how Kathryn Lewek became one of the most powerful coloratura sopranos in the world, setting records at the Met Opera and thrilling audiences across the globe. Her voice and performances are nothing short of unforgettable.
Jul 20, 202517.4K Shares273.2K Views
Kathryn Louise Blomshield Lewek was born in 1983 in East Lyme, Connecticut. She began playing piano and singing at a very young age, but it wasn’t until high school that she realized she could pursue music as a career. She studied voice and piano at the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester, earning both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in voice performance and literature.
In 2009, she was chosen as a fellow at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California, where she studied coloratura soprano with Marilyn Horne. Early on, her Eastman voice professor helped her explore a wide vocal range without forcing her into a single voice type too soon.
Career
Kathryn Lewekis known internationally as one of today’s most thrilling coloratura sopranos. Since her debut as the Queen of the Night in 2011, she has performed the role over 300 times with more than 25 houses worldwide, including the Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House in London, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Vienna State Opera, and Opera Aix en Provence. At the Metropolitan Opera alone, she holds the record for the most performances by a single artist in one role, performing Queen of the Night 64 times in recent seasons.
At the 2013 Operalia competition, Kathryn won two top prizes, including the Audience Favorite award. She regularly performs concert works like Handel’s Messiah at Carnegie Hall with the Oratorio Society of New York and Musica Sacra, as well as major works such as Mozart’s and Verdi’s Requiems, and Bach’s Mass in B Minor and Christmas Oratorio.
Over the past seasons, she made several role debuts in leading operas. These include Ginevra in Ariodante opposite Cecilia Bartoli in Salzburg in 2017, Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor in Nice, and the four heroines of Les Contes d’Hoffmann in Berlin and Salzburg. In the 2024–25 season, she expanded further with Micaëla in Carmen at Nashville Opera and Musetta in La bohème at Opera Colorado, performing alongside her husband, tenor Zach Borichevsky.
Her concert and recital work is equally notable. She has sung major orchestral works such as Orff’s Carmina Burana, Haydn’s Creation, Mozart’s sacred masses, and Bach’s choral works for prestigious orchestras and festivals. Reviewers praise her communicative verve and thrilling beauty in performance.
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