I've got the laughs on my side!

photo by Martin Lohoff

I am very happy to once again be performing Marcellina with my colleagues from the Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Wien, this time in Münster with the EinKlang Philharmonie für Alle!  

Arndt Zinkant from the Westfälische Nachrichten reviewed our performance, and mentioned me: "Kathryn Humphries hat die Lacher auf ihrer Seite, sie gibt Marcellina als Wuchtbrumme mit Leoparden-Kragen". 

Here is the whole review:

file:///Users/kathrynhumphries/Downloads/1733834-EinKlang-praesentiert-Mozarts-Figaro-Mit-Wortwitz-und-Seitenhieben.html

la belle province once more

It's back to the land of smoked meat to finish my D.Mus at Université de Montréal!  It's going to be a busy year, with two recitals, my thesis defence, and a few courses to finish up...but I'm ready!!  I'm also excited to continue teaching harp and voice students :D
On y va!!

Goodbye Vienna...hello Victoria!

My wonderful Vienna adventure has come to an end.  I have learned so much over the past two years, had some amazing musical experiences, made life-long friends, and have created many wonderful memories.  Although I will miss the cultural life of Vienna, I'm excited to be participating in Victoria's music scene once again.  I will be joining the alto section of the CapriCCio Vocal Ensemble for the Bach B Minor Mass on Saturday, May 31 2014 at Christ Church Cathedral.  Joined by members of the Victoria Symphony, this epic choral work is sure to impress!

Here we are rehearsing in Christ Church Cathedral.

Shéhérazade

I LOVE this piece, and I'm thrilled to get the chance to work on it with my former Université de Montréal colleage, Gaspard Tanguay-Labrosse, in the context of his korrepetition class with Prof. David Lutz at the Universität für Musik and Darstellende Kunst Wien!

PS - I stole the photo from the production of Madama Butterfly I was in at Pacific Opera Victoria in 2008.  That's me in the light :D

"Dr. Mezzo & Mr. Hight" debut

Mikah Meyer, Pierre-André Doucet and I (collectively, M-PAKT) are very proud to present our educational lecture-recital, "Dr. Mezzo & Mr. High" for the first time ever, at the Bethany Lutheran Church on November 17, 2013 in Crystal Lake, Illinois.
Here's our teaser-trailer:

Musikverein, Schloss Stainz, and Salzburg Festspiele

As a member of the Arnold Schönberg Chor I've had the opportunity to sing in some amazing Austrian venues, including the Musikverein in Vienna, Schloss Stainz, and the Grosses Festspielhaus in Salzburg.  We sang Haydn's "Die Schöpfung" (The Creation) at the Musikverein and in Salzburg as the opening concert for the Salzburger Festspiele.  We also did Haydn's Nelson Mass at Schloss Stainz, under the baton of Nikolaus Harnoncourt, whose mother actually grew up in the Palace, as Austrian aristocracy.

The Musikverein from the stage.  Scene of the famous Wiener Philharmoniker New Year's Concert.

Newspaper clipping of the choir in the Pfarrkirche Schloss Stainz, after the Nelson Mass.  Can you see me in the back row?

In the grounds of the Schloss Stainz, on break from Nelson Mass rehearsal.

The Grosses Festspielhaus from the stage, during rehearsal for "Die Schöpfung" at the Salzburger Festspiele.

Walk to work in Salzburg.  Not bad!

Barbe-Bleue

I just love the poster for our recent production of Ritter Blaubart (Barbe-Bleue) by Offenbach at the Styriarte Festival in Graz.  What an honour to sing a solo under the baton of the great Nikolaus Harnoncourt.  As well as being a member of the chorus, I also had a small role - Eleonore (one of Bluebeard's dead wives).  I emerged from a coffin and sang a stanza in a hungarian-flavoured quintet.

Here's a picture of me in the background, dressed as a french peasant, on the knee of my soldier beau during the galop.

Highlights from our Klassenabend

Bolcom Cabaret Songs:

George

Toothbrush Time

Amor

excerpt from La Voix Humaine by Poulenc

this recoding is from our dress rehearsal

Berg with Cheryl and Julius

This spring I've been lucky to collaborate with my friend Cheryl Emery, who is a Canadian pianist I met at the Opera NUOVA program in 2011.  She's studying in Graz this year with the world-renowned collaborative pianist Julius Drake, and I very fortunate to have the chance to coach with them both.  Cheryl and I been travelling back and forth between Vienna and Graz, preparing Brahms' Zigeunerlieder and Berg's Sieben Frühe Lieder for Mr. Drake.  Here are recordings of some of the Sieben Frühe Lieder, which we recently performed at Mr. Drake's Klassenabend at the Kunst Uni Graz.

Schilflied

Die Nachtigall

Sommertage

Cheryl and I on top of the Schlossberg during one of my visits to Graz :)

Performers at Julius Drake's Klassenabend 

Liz comes to visit

Business at Hotel Humphries is booming!  Liz was able to come down from England for a couple of days to see Anna Netrebko's role debut as Tatiana in Eugene Onegin at the Staatsoper.  Boy, was the 4-hour wait for standing room tickets ever worth it!  Especially when Liz got a picture with Anna after the show!  We also saw Boheme at the Staatsoper with Piotr Bezala, and Liz came to our opening night performance of Béatrice et Bénédict.  Here's a picture of us at the Opening Night party with the stars of the show, Malena Ernman and Bernard Richter.