Biography: Katherine Goforth

FEATURED ARTIST

KATHERINE GOFORTH

TENOR

Vocalist Katherine Goforth shares her “noble, colorful and iridescent vocal sound” (Magazin Klassik) in strong and heartfelt performances. “Goforth, with [her] virile voice, does not hold back," (The New York Times) offering vivid character portraits sung with the utmost commitment and finesse. Winner of the 2019 Oregon District Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions and the 2019 National Association of Teachers of Singing Artist Awards regional competition, she is a distinctive vocalist, representing the best of next generation operatic talent.

Goforth, who is transgender, excels in a wide range of roles across the gender spectrum.

As a member of the International Opera Studio of Oper Köln for the 2018/19 season, she sang Il Conte di Bandiera in Salieri’s La Scuola dei Gelosi in the Kammeroper and Tamino and Monostatos in Die Zauberflöte für Kinder, 3. Jude in Salome and one of the Comedian Harmonists in Oper Köln's original liederabend about the a cappella ensemble of the same name on the main stage, and covered Rev. Horace Adams in Peter Grimes and Jaquino in Fidelio. Of these performances, The German Stage noted that she was “stunningly charming,” the General-Anzeiger wrote that her “tenor projects clearly… (and her) piano passages reveal lyric qualities as well,” and Opern Magazin stated that she “rose to the highest form.” Goforth has appeared as a soloist with the Oregon and Seattle Symphonies, Opera Theater Oregon, Portland Opera Guild, Portland Chamber Orchestra, in live radio broadcast on All Classical Portland, and in concert with Pink Martini. For almost a decade, she has given recitals and Liederabende with pianist Wenwen Du. she played Tamino and both stage directed and played the role of Peter (the Father) in Hansel and Gretel. Goforth has performed roles in chamber operas by Elise Winkler and Drew Swatosh for Seattle Opera's Jane Lang Davis Creation Lab. Goforth sang in the World Premiere of Matthew Aucoin’s celebrated new opera Crossing, as part of a small ensemble cast directed by Tony Awardwinner Diane Paulus, with performances at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and American Repertory Theatre.

Goforth is a teaching artist at the Aquilon Music Festival, where she also played Tamino, Don Basilio in Le Nozze di Figaro, and Le Musicien in the modern day premiere of La chûte de Phaëton, and also serves on the festival's Board of Directors. She formerly served on the Board of Directors of Opera Theater Oregon, where she was actively involved in producing new operatic work, including Justin Ralls' Two Yosemites and productions of Rachel Portman's The Little Prince and Michael Daughtery's This Land Sings.

Goforth is an Instructor of Voice at Clark College in Vancouver, Washington.

A graduate of the Juilliard School and St. Olaf College, Goforth also participated in master courses at Franz Schubert Institut, Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme, Heidelberger Frühling Liedakademie, Georg Solti Accademia, and masterclasses sponsored by the Richard Tucker Foundation.

Upcoming performances include Beethoven's 9th Symphony with Walla Walla Symphony and a recital performance with Portland’s Queer Opera.

With Lark Opera, where she is also an artistic consultant,