BIOGRAPHY

Soprano Kaitrin Cunningham hails from Spokane, Washington. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in English literature and French from Seattle University. A love of language and music sparked a passion for opera which led her to study voice. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in music performance with a minor in Italian at Gonzaga University, where she sang the role of Venus in John Blow’s “Venus and Adonis,” and won the Gonzaga University Concerto Competition. She earned her Master of Music degree at the University of Arizona, where she performed Servilia in “La clemenza di Tito,” Erste Dame in “Die Zauberflöte” and won the Amelia Rieman Opera Competition.

Upon completion of her master’s degree, Cunningham moved to Europe. As part of La Musica Lirica in Novafeltria, Italy, she sang Bianca in “La rondine.” In the summer of 2014, she moved to Vienna, Austria, and made her Viennese debut in the role of Susanna in “Le nozze di Figaro” in 2015. As a featured soloist with Sound of Austria and Oper in der Krypta, and a member of the St. Stephen’s Vocal Ensemble, she performed Contessa in “Le nozze di Figaro,” Annina in “La traviata,” and was the soprano soloist in a number of classical and contemporary masses, including Britten’s “Missa Brevis,” Haydn’s “Missa in tempore belli,” Schubert’s “Mass in B-flat Major,” and Gottfried von Preyer’s “Dankmesse.”

As a member of the Grammy Award-winning Arnold Schoenberg Chor, she has performed concerts and operas throughout Europe and Asia, including L’opéra royal de Versailles, the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, the Tonhalle in Düsseldorf, and the Musiikkitalo in Helsinki. Over the course of eight seasons in the Theater an der Wien opera chorus, she premiered 14 new opera productions and performed numerous small solo roles, including Drittes Mädchen in Werner Egk’s “Peer Gynt” and Annette in Gottfried von Einem’s “Der Besuch der alten Dame.”

Cunningham has shared the stage with such renowned singers as Marlis Petersen, Gerald Finley and Michael Schade, and has worked with celebrated conductors and directors including René Jacobs, Cornelius Meister, Bertrand de Billy, Peter Konwitschny, Claus Guth and Keith Warner.

Kaitrin Cunningham currently teaches at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly). In addition to maintaining a voice studio, she also teaches vocal practicum, beginning voice, and opera scenes. She has conducted master classes and served on judging panels in the United States, Austria, and Kenya.