Kathleen was born in Lancashire and, having already gained considerable experience in opera, oratorio and lighter work, with some of the region’s leading amateur and semi-pro companies she came to the attention of Barbara Robotham who persuaded her to audition for the Royal Northern College of Music. Such was the impression that she created that she was offered an entrance scholarship. Encouraged by this she gave up her career in retail and began her studies there in 1991.

During her time at the college, where she studied with Miss Robotham, who remains her coach, she won several major awards including the Webster Booth Competition and Peter Moores’ Foundation Scholarships which enabled her to have additional coaching with Ludmilla Andrew and Theresa Cahill.

A short period of study in Florence followed, during which she sang in a concert at Puccini’s house - filmed by various TV channels. She has since sung with most of Britain’s major companies including Scottish Opera, Glyndebourne, Opera Ireland, Holland Park and Grange Park. . Roles have included: Madame de la Haltiere in ‘Cendrillon’, Britten’s Lucretia, Mercedes and the title role in ‘Carmen’, Filipyevna in ‘Eugene Onegin’, Suzuki in ‘Madam Butterfly’, Martha in ‘Faust’, Azucena in ‘II Trovatore’, and Madam-By Ends in the highly acclaimed R.N.C.M. staging and subsequent recording of Vaughan-Williams’ ‘The Pilgrims Progress’.

For Scottish Opera she created the roles of Margaret Muir in the world premiere of ‘Friend of the People’ - by David Home and Mary Lamb in ‘Monster!’ by Sally Beamish. For the same company, she has also sung the demanding roles of Nurse/Old Woman in ‘Ines di Castro’ by James MacMillan in Glasgow, Edinburgh and at the Teatro Coliseu in Oporto.

She was very heavily involved in the highly acclaimed Scottish Opera and Edinburgh Festival Ring project over the past 3 years, singing the roles of Schwertleite/‘Die Walküre’, Erda/‘Das Rheingold’ and covering Erda/‘Siegfried’ and First Norn/’Götterdämmerung’. Other covers for Scottish Opera include Amneris/‘Aida’ and Adalgisa/‘Norma’.

For Glyndebourne Touring Opera she has covered the roles of Mrs Herring/‘Albert Herring’ and Filipyevna. She has also appeared at the Festivals of Buxton, Brighton, Ryedale, Waterford and Torre del Lago. Her many appearances in concert, oratorio and recital include engagements as soloist with the Manchester Camerata, English Sinfonia and the Hallé.

Kathleen has also performed in many evenings of lighter music, including operetta, Gilbert and Sullivan Cole Porter, Jerome Kern and Gershwin. She has played virtually all the Gilbert & Sullivan mezzo roles, most notably an award winning performance of Katisha/‘The Mikado’ at the Buxton Festival. She also won the award for best female performer at the Waterford International Festival of Light Opera for her Valencienne/‘The Merry Widow’.

In 2004 she worked at WNO for the first time covering Filipyevna and made her debut at the Glyndebourne Festival, where she sang Pastuchyna/‘Jenufa’ and Genevieve/‘Pelléas et Mélisande’. Concert work in 2004 included performances of the Angel in The Dream of Gerontius, Elijah the Dvorak Stabat Mater, and the Verdi Requiem — a role she has sung over 30 times throughout the UK.

In addition to her rich, resonant voice Kathleen has been acknowledged wherever she has worked for her vivid characterisations, and her dancing skills, these accomplishments having been developed in operas and musicals prior to her training at the RNCM. Roles included Eliza Doolittle/‘My Fair Lady’, Julie Jordan/‘Carousel’ and the title role in ‘Kiss me Kate!’

In 2005 Kathleen made her French début at the Opéra de Lyon singing the Maid in ‘Jenufa’ under Lothar Koenigs and has been invited to return in 2008/09. She returned to Glyndebourne in the summer and performed for the first time at the Royal Opera in autumn singing She-Ancient in ‘The Midsummer Marriage’ conducted by Richard Hickox. She appeared at ENO twice last year.

Last autumn she sang Mrs Herring for Glyndebourne Touring Opera and in 2008 she sings Mother Goose/’The Rake’s Progress’ and Third Maid/'Elektra' at the Royal Opera, Filipyevna at the Glyndebourne Festival, Mamma Lucia/'Cavalleria rusticana' at ENO and Filipyevna for WNO. She returns to the Royal Opera in 2009 singing Brigitta in ‘Die Tote Stadt’. She has also made a further CD with Chandos in the role of Glasha/Katya Kabanova with WNO conducted by Carlo Rizzi.

June 2008