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, “force of nature” (SFCV) mezzo-soprano Kate Lindsey possesses a rare combination of world class vocal artistry coupled with equally expansive acting gifts. Lindsey is a regular guest of the world’s most prestigious opera houses, 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 2023-34 season, Kate Lindsey’s versatility is once again on display in a wide variety of role debuts and new productions. She launches the season at the Vienna State Opera, in the role of Sesto in Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito and returns as Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia. She makes her role debut as Charlotte in Werther at Theater Baden-Baden in a new production by Robert Carsen. At English National Opera she reprises her acclaimed interpretation of Offred (The Handmaid’s Tale) and will also be heard in Handel’s Messiah, fully staged by Robert Wilson at the Gran Teatre Del Liceu in Barcelona. Later in the season, Lindsey returns to Vienna for her role debut as Miranda in Thomas Adès’ The Tempest and takes on the role of Despina in Barrie Kosky’s new production of Così fan tutte, conducted by Philippe Jordan.
An in-demand interpreter of concert and Lied repertoire, this season Kate Lindsey presents works by Schumann, Fauré, and Sondheim at the Park Avenue Armory in collaboration with pianist Justina Lee. At the George Enescu Festival, she presents her program Thousand Miles with pianist Baptiste Trotignon. The mezzo-soprano gives her debut of Alma Mahler’s Sieben Lieder at Elbphilharmonie Hamburg and debuts Chausson’s Poème de l’amour et de la mer in Torino under the baton of Philippe Jordan.
Career highlights include her company debut at Teatro alla Scala, where she performed in a Kurt Weill double bill of Mahagonny Songspiel and Die sieben Todsünden. With the Wiener Staatsoper she created the title role in the world premiere of Olga Neuwirth’s Orlando, made her role debut as Donna Elvira in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, and sang the roles of Nerone in L’incoronazione di Poppea, La Musica and La Speranza in L’Orfeo, and Penelope in Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, completing the company’s Monteverdi opera cycle. With the Metropolitan Opera, she has sung over 100 performances in dozens of roles, including Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, Hänsel in Hänsel und Gretel, Annio in La clemenza di Tito, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Muse/Nicklausse in Les contes d’Hoffmann, Nerone in Agrippina, and most recently Idamante in Mozart’s Idomeneo. Additionally, Lindsey sang the first performances of the leading role of Offred in English National Opera’s 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, 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, Händel 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. The mezzo records exclusively with Outhere Music/Alpha.
A native of Richmond, Virginia, Lindsey is now based in the United Kingdom where she lives with her husband and child.
