In 2006, American mezzo Katherine Pracht won the Outstanding Mezzo Award at the Minneapolis Metropolitan Opera Regional Auditions, and sang the role of Hänsel in Skylight Opera Theatre’s Hänsel und Gretel. She made concert debuts with the Albany Symphony, Racine Symphony, The Artist Series of Sarasota, Nova Singers, UW-Milwaukee Chamber Concert Series, and the Lake Geneva Chapter of the Lyric Opera Chicago. This season, Pracht plays Jo in Oberlin Opera Theatre’s production of Little Women conducted by Christopher Larkin, followed by the title role in David Carlson’s The Midnight Angel at Skylight Opera Theatre, and her Florentine Opera debut as the Page in Salome in 2008.

Pracht’s close association with Skylight Opera Theatre began in 2001 with the role of Amparo in Hiram Titus’s Rosina, which Opera News described as “warm and colorful”. She won the Lee Dougherty Debut Artist Award and accepted an invitation to be an apprentice for the 2001-2002 season. Since then, she has performed many roles at Skylight, including Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Stephano in Romeo et Juliette, and Jo in Little Women directed by its composer, Mark Adamo. Pracht is presently preparing her newest operatic role, the title character in The Midnight Angel by David Carlson, which she will debut at Skylight this September.

Ms. Pracht made her Chicago debut in a French double-bill at the Chicago Cultural Center. The Chicago Tribune described her performance of The Squirrel in Ravel’s L’Enfant et les Sortilèges as “delightful” and she was “a standout” in the title role of Satie’s Geneviève de Brabant. She has since returned to the Cultural Center to perform Béatrice and Stephano in their “Shakespeare in Opera” concert, the mezzo roles in Chicago’s “Winter Delights” Festival, and the Third Lady in The Magic Flute.

In Mark Adamo’s directorial debut at Lyric Opera Cleveland, Pracht played the role of Meg in Little Women. An enthusiastic performer of 20th century music, Pracht has enjoyed several other opportunities to work closely with contemporary composers. While earning her master degree, she collaborated with the late John Downey on several of his art songs, which resulted in a prestigious solo performance at The John Downey Festival in London. She has since worked with Libby Larsen on the role of Azul in Dreaming Blue in preparation for her performance with the Attic Theatre, and had the pleasure of working with John Corigliano on his art song "Dodecaphonia" to prepare a performance for his 65th birthday celebration.

Following a Minneapolis regional Metropolitan Opera National Council audition, Ms. Pracht was invited to sing on a concert for the Rochester Aria Group in Rochester, MN, and has since become a favorite. On their stage, she has appeared in scenes as Romeo, i Capuleti e i Montecchi, Dorabella, Cosi fan tutte, Rosina, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Charlotte, Werther, Sesto, La Clemenza di Tito, Cherubino, Le Nozze di Figaro, Béatrice, Béatrice et Bénédict, Prince Charmant, Cendrillon, and Angelina, La Cenerentola. She most recently participated in a concert of German opera scenes, singing Octavian in Der Rosenkavelier and Komponist in Ariadne auf Naxos.

In her recent debut with the Albany Symphony, Pracht sang excerpts from Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, and Cosi fan tutte on a “Mozart at the Opera” concert. Geraldine Freedman of The Daily Gazette reported, “Pracht opened with a bang in the solo,“Non so piu”. She showed a big voice, excellent diction, easy top notes, strong projection, and was a delight in her acting.”

A native of Davenport, Iowa, Katherine Pracht now lives in Philadelphia