Kate Lindsey

Full Biography

“One cannot overpraise Lindsey’s ability to characterize strongly while retaining beauty of tone when the music calls for such.” (San Francisco Classical Voice)

One of the most compelling artists of her generation, mezzo-soprano Kate Lindsey is a regular guest on the world’s most celebrated stages, including the Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Vienna State Opera, the Salzburg Festival, Glyndebourne Opera Festival, Festival Aix-en-Provence, the Théâtre des Champs–Élysées, and the Bavarian State Opera. 

In the 2026/27 season, Kate Lindsey returns to the Vienna State Opera as Sesto in Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito, sings Rosina in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia and Charlotte in Massenet’s Werther, and performs the Komponist in Barrie Kosky’s new production of Richard Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos under Franz Welser-Möst. At the Vienna State Opera’s NEST, she reprises the title role in Maarten Seghers’ Lee Miller in Hitler’s Bathtub and appears in a chamber music concert. At Salzburg’s Mozartwoche, Lindsey appears as Despina in Bettina Geyer’s semi-staged production of Mozart’s Così fan tutte under the baton of Ivor Bolton. She then returns to the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich as Idamante in Mozart’s Idomeneo in Antú Romero Nunes’ acclaimed production.

On the concert stage, Lindsey joins the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège for Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and brings her acclaimed recital programme Thousands of Miles to La Monnaie in Brussels.

Career highlights include her company debut at Teatro alla Scala, where she performed in a Weill’s double bill of Mahagonny Songspiel and Die sieben Todsünden, followed by a return engagement originating the role of Adso da Melk in the world premiere of Il nome della rosa, composed by Francesco Filidei. With the Vienna State Opera, she created the title roles in the world premieres of Olga Neuwirth’s Orlando and in Maarten Seghers‘s Lee Miller in Hitler’s Bathtub; made her role debut as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni and as Mélisande in Pelléas et Mélisande; and sang the roles of Komponist in Ariadne auf Naxos, Charlotte in Massenet’s Werther, Sesto in La clemenza di Tito, Miranda in The Tempest, and completed the company’s Monteverdi opera cycle: Nerone in L’incoronazione di Poppea, La Musica/La Speranza in L’Orfeo, and Penelope in Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria. With the Metropolitan Opera, she has sung over 100 performances, including Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, Hänsel in Hänsel und Gretel, Annio in La clemenza di Tito, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Nerone in Agrippina, Idamante in Idomeneo as well as Muse/Nicklausse in Les contes d’Hoffmann. She also appeared in the latter role at the Salzburg Festival where she most recently made her debut as Elisabetta in Maria Stuarda. Additionally, Lindsey sang the first performances of the titular Offred in the English National Opera premiere of Poul Ruders’s The Handmaid’s Tale, the title role of Purcell’s Miranda in a new Katie Mitchell production at the Opéra Comique in Paris, and Sister Helen in Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking at Washington National Opera.

A seasoned concert artist, Lindsey has appeared with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orkest, the New York Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Metropolitan Opera Chamber Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, Orchestre de Paris, Berliner Philharmoniker, the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, the BBC Proms, and the Washington Concert Opera. She has been a favorite with many of the world’s most distinguished conductors including Harry Bicket, James Conlon, Vladimir Jurowski, Pablo-Heras-Casado, James Levine, David Robertson, William Christie, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Thomas Guggeis, Philippe Jordan, Kent Nagano, Teodor Currentzis, Thomas Hengelbrock, Sir Mark Elder and Franz Welser-Möst.

Kate Lindsey’s first solo album, Thousands of Miles, with Baptiste Trotignon, includes works by Weill, Korngold and Zemlinsky. Her second record, Arianna, features the Arcangelo orchestra conducted by Jonathan Cohen and features repertoire of Scarlatti, Handel and Haydn. Entitled Tiranno, Lindsey’s third disc focuses on the historical character of Nero and includes Baroque works of Handel and Monteverdi, featuring world premiere recordings of cantatas by Scarlatti and Bartolomeo Monari. On Samsara, her fourth recital on Alpha Classics, released in 2025, Kate Lindsey performs two song cycles centered around a female protaganist: Schumann’s well-known Frauenliebe und Leben and Fauré’s La Chanson d’Ève. The mezzo records exclusively with Outhere Music/Alpha with her next recital album scheduled for release in 2027.

A native of Richmond, Virginia, Lindsey is now based in the United Kingdom where she lives with her husband and child.