Full Biography
American soprano Kathryn Lewek is a born communicator. Combining charismatic stage presence with a voice of sumptuous range, crystalline purity, and rich emotional power, she headlines major productions at the foremost opera houses and festivals worldwide, from New York’s Metropolitan Opera to Austria’s Salzburg Festival. Lauded in an increasingly diverse array of leading lyric soprano and dramatic coloratura roles—including Mozart’s Queen of the Night, the signature role with which she has repeatedly broken records—Lewek also wins accolades for her orchestral collaborations and sensitive interpretations of contemporary music. As the New York Times recognizes, “singing like Lewek’s is what the magic of opera is all about.”
Building on a recent period of significant repertoire expansion, Lewek’s 2026/27 season reflects her unique versatility as she continues to broaden her artistry through a series of role debuts, including Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte at the Stiftung Mozarteum Salzburg, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte at The Metropolitan Opera (alternating performances with her signature role of Queen of the Night), and Liù in Turandot at Cincinnati Opera. She will also return to repertoire closely associated with her artistry, including Violetta Valéry in La traviata for her house debut at the Canadian Opera Company, Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail at Deutsche Oper Berlin, Olympia/Giulietta in Les Contes d’Hoffman at Berlin Staatsoper, Cunégonde in Candide at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, and Musetta in La bohème at The Metropolitan Opera. On the concert stage, Ms. Lewek performs Verdi’s monumental Messa da Requiem with both Fairfield County Chorale and Toledo Symphony, appears in concert with Musikfestspiele Potsdam, and joins her husband, tenor Zach Borichevsky, for a concert appearance with the Danbury Concert Association. Future seasons will see her in leading roles at The Metropolitan Opera, Opéra National de Paris, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Royal Ballet and Opera Covent Garden and Atlanta Opera, among others.
Recent seasons have seen the expansion of Lewek’s repertoire and her presence in leading roles on the world’s foremost stages. She has collaborated with acclaimed directors including Calixto Bieito, Barrie Kosky, Simon McBurney, and Peter Sellers as well as some of the world’s preeminent conductors including Marin Alsop, James Conlon, Gustavo Dudamel, Jane Glover and Donald Runnicles bringing her signature coloratura brilliance to iconic roles while also increasingly embracing the full lyric and dramatic capabilities of her voice. Notable career highlights on the opera stage include the Four Heroines in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Eurydice in Orphée aux Enfers and Ginevra opposite Cecilia Bartoli in Handel’s Ariodante at the Salzburg Festival, Handel’s Alcina in concert performances in Paris, Barcelona, and Montpellier with Ensemble Artaserse, Elettra in Mozart’s Idomeneo at La Monnaie, Salome at Cincinnati Opera, Juliette in Roméo et Juliette at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Lakmé, Lucia di Lammermoor and Violetta Valéry in La Traviata all at Opera Nice Côte d’Azur, Gilda in Rigoletto at LA Opera, Countess Adèle in Rossini’s Le comte Ory at Lyric Opera of Chicago, Teresa in Berlioz’s Benvenuto Cellini at Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu, Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail at Deutsche Oper Berlin and Munich’s Bavarian State Opera, Angelica in Handel’s Orlando on a European tour with Italy’s Il Pomo d’Oro ensemble, after débuting the role at Australia’s Hobart Baroque Festival, for which she won the coveted Helpmann Award and creating the role of Jessica in the Bregenz Festival’s world premiere production of André Tchaikowsky’s The Merchant of Venice, which was awarded Best World Premiere at the 2014 International Opera Awards.
Concert highlights include Mozart and Salieri with the Vienna Philharmonic, Handel’s Messiah with the Oratorio Society of New York at Carnegie Hall, Celebrating Leonard Bernstein at 100 with Washington National Opera, Bach’s B-minor Mass with Chicago’s Soli deo Gloria ensemble, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Dallas Symphony, and Haydn’s Creation under John Nelson’s leadership as well as creating the soprano role in the world premiere of Music for New Bodies, a DaCamera co-commission from Matthew Aucoin. She also regularly performs in gala concerts and solo recitals nationwide, sometimes in collaboration with her husband, tenor Zach Borichevsky. In response to the global food crisis, the couple recently streamed a special concert to benefit the United Nations World Food Program.
As a recording artist, Lewek made her operatic album début with a pair of German rarities, Orff’s Gisei and Weingartner’s Die Dorfschule, both recorded live for the CPO label at Deutsche Oper Berlin. More recently, two of her Salzburg successes were captured live for Blu-Ray DVD release by Unitel Edition: Ariodante and Orphée aux Enfers, which was nominated for a 2021 International Classical Music Award. Other operatic releases include Handel’s Apollo e Dafne and Armida abbandonata, both recorded with Il Pomo D’Oro for Pentatone. Lewek also performs contemporary American Arts Songs on two Albany Records titles: Kathryn Lewek sings Cary Ratcliff, recorded with the composer at the piano, and Quicksilver, which features her account of David Liptak’s Songs for Persephone.
Lewek first garnered international acclaim as Mozart’s notoriously difficult Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute. With the New York Times dubbing her “The Queen of the Queens of the Night,” Lewek has firmly established herself as the preeminent interpreter of Mozart’s iconic dramatic coloratura role. Since making her debut as the Queen in 2011, she has performed the formidably challenging role more than 350 times with leading companies worldwide, including London’s Royal Opera House, Vienna State Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Bavarian State Opera, Teatro Real Madrid, Royal Danish Opera, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, and The Metropolitan Opera, where she holds the company record with 85 performances. As The New Yorker’s Alex Ross observes, “she executes this stratospherically difficult role better than anyone alive.” Her acclaimed portrayal has also been featured twice in The Metropolitan Opera’s Live in HD cinema broadcasts, first in Julie Taymor’s beloved holiday production and again in Simon McBurney’s celebrated staging, which captured her record-breaking 50th performance as the Queen.
At the 2013 Operalia World Opera Competition, Kathryn Lewek took two top prizes, the highly competitive Audience Favorite Award among them. A graduate of the University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music, where she earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in voice performance and literature, she lives in Connecticut with her husband and their two young children.
© CSAM, August 2026
