American soprano Katerina Burton, acclaimed for her “vocal fire and dramatic conviction” (Isthmus) is a 2024 winner of the George and Nora London Competition and a recipient of the Sara Tucker Study Grant from the Richard Tucker Foundation. She is a graduate of the Cafritz Young Artist program at Washington National Opera, where she gained recognition for her thrilling mainstage debut as Micaëla in Francesca Zambello’s renowned production of Carmen. 

 

The upcoming season sees both a role and company debut for Ms. Burton as Serena in Porgy & Bess with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, as well as a debut with the New Orchestra of Washington as the soprano soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in collaboration with the Denyce Graves Foundation. She also makes a return to the Cathedral Choral Society in Washington, D.C., where she will sing the soprano solos in Mozart’s Requiem. 

 

The 2024-2025 season featured many debuts for Ms. Burton, including Mimì in La bohème with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with Madison Opera.  Recent engagements have seen Ms. Burton on both the operatic and concert stage, most notably at Aspen Music Festival playing the role of Alice Ford in Verdi’s Falstaff opposite bass-baritone Bryn Terfel. Ms. Burton also had the pleasure of being the featured soprano soloist for the Kennedy Center premiere of Adolphus Hailstork’s JFK: The Last Speech in collaboration with the National Symphony Orchestra featuring Tony Award® winner Phylicia Rashad, who provided narration. Burton also joined the U.S. Naval Academy as a soloist for their performance of Britten’s War Requiem at the Strathmore Music Center. Previously, she performed Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 to much acclaim with the National Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Gianandrea Noseda. She has also appeared in concert with the Richmond Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and the Handel Choir of Baltimore.

 

Burton has seen much success as an international competitor, having placed in the 2024 Dallas Opera National Vocal Competition as well as being chosen as a Grand Finalist in the Concours Tenor Viñas presented by the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Spain. Previously, Ms. Burton was a semifinalist for the prestigious Queen Sonja Singing Competition in Oslo, Norway, and was also a semifinalist for the Concours Musical International de Montréal. Ms. Burton completed her graduate studies at The Juilliard School, and is a native of Ocean City, Maryland.