Spinto/Dramatic Soprano
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A former Miss Washington and top ten Finalist in the Miss America Pageant, Kathleen Sasnett has thrilled and charmed audiences in America and Europe. With a 'voice of great beauty' and 'virtuosic technique and control,' this award winning soprano gives an 'extraordinarily powerful performance' in opera as well as in oratorio and musical theater. Kathleen's vocal and physical versatility enable her to portray demanding dramatic operatic roles such as Mozart's Vitellia in La Clemenza di Tito, the title role in Puccini's Suor Angelica, and the Mother in Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors. As a Seattle Opera Young Artist, Kathleen performed over 15 roles in three years to standing ovations, including Liu, Butterfly, Maddalena, Leonora, and Isolde. She has worked with such greats as Maestros Walter Taussig with the Metropolitan Opera, Gerard Schwartz of the Seattle Symphony, Edoardo Mueller from Italy, and Hanno Blaschke in Germany, which enabled her to hone her dramatic singing and acting skills for roles like Santuzza, Tosca, Amelia, and Turandot.
Equally at home in musical theater, Kathleen has performed over 15 leading roles, including Maria in Sound of Music, Lili in Carnival!, Marian in The Music Man, Fiona in Brigadoon, and most recently, Aldonza in Man of La Mancha where she 'completely submerged herself into the character.'
A Second Prize Winner in the 2011 Barry Alexander International Voice Competition and a Finalist in the Altamura/Enrico Caruso International Vocal Competition, this 'lovely soprano' with a 'voice vividly alive' has performed with over 30 symphony orchestras, and was the featured soprano soloist in such varied works as Beethoven's 9th Symphony, Verdi's Requiem, Mozart's Requiem, Vaughn Williams' Hodie, and Gounod's St. Cecilia's Mass, to name a few.
Kathleen has an earned Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Vocal Performance from The Ohio State University, where she enjoyed a University Graduate Fellowship, was honored by Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, and was awarded the Graduate Outstanding Achievement Award.
Kathleen's list of performed roles in the past seven years include Blanche in Dialogues of the Carmelites in Florence and Cortona, Italy, the Witch in Hansel and Gretel for the City of Gaithersburg, Maryland, and Bel Cantanti Opera, the Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors in Washington D.C. and the German Embassy, Giorgetta in the dark one act opera, Il Tabarro, by Puccini, in Philadelphia and Nedda in Pagliacci for the same company. Kathleen repeated the role of Giorgetta, as well as performed Golde in Fiddler on the Roof, for Natchez Opera with Dr. David Blackburn and Richard Nechamkin. She performed Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana in Philadelphia and was the Soprano Soloist in Schubert's Magnificat and Rutter's Gloria for the Mercersburg Chorus and Orchestra and Guest Artist for The Heisey Wind Ensemble Christmas Concert in Ohio. Kathleen performed Aldonza in Man of La Mancha for the Eichelberger Performing Arts Center and Lady Billows in Albert Herring, where she went on a European Performance and Concert Tour for American Opera Studio with Dr. Bill Hall in Prague, Bratislava, Budapest, and Vienna. She sang in the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra Recital Series, performing Strauss' Alphorn and Gounod's Le Soir, and sang Strauss' Vier letzte Lieder with the Music, Gettysburg! Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Norman Nunamaker.
Kathleen performed Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with the Sunderman Symphony Orchestra and Maestro Alexander Kahn, in April, 2009, performed as Gabriel in The Creation by Haydn in Varna, Bulgaria in May, 2009, and in November 2009, performed as the Soprano Soloist in the world premiere of John William Jones' For The People for the Lincoln Fortenbaugh Celebration. In January, 2010, Kathleen performed the Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors at the Majestic Theatre. In June, 2010, Kathleen was the Soprano Soloist for Mozart's Requiem in Varna, Prague, Bratislava, Budapest, Vienna, and Israel. In January, 2011, Kathleen performed the Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors for OperaLancaster, and in June, 2011, she was the Artistic Director for Mozart's Die Zauberfloete in the Varna Opera House in Varna, Bulgaria. In July, 2011 Kathleen was the Soprano Soloist in Verdi's Requiem in Todi, Gobbi, and Firenze, Italy. In April, 2012, Kathleen and her husband, Roger performed Gershwin's Catfish Row together with the Sunderman Wind Symphony and in March 2013 she performed the role of Elizabeth in The Savior Of The World in Bellingham, Washington. Kathleen is delighted to perform the role of Truvy in the play Steel Magnolias for the Mount Baker Repertory Theater in July and August of 2013. Returning to Gettysburg in September 2013, Kathleen will sing as the Soprano Soloist again for Jones' Oratorio For The People.
Dr. Sasnett was a tenured Assistant Professor of Voice and Opera at Sunderman Conservatory of Music at Gettysburg College in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where she taught applied voice and directed Opera Workshop. She has a published book entitled "Twenty-Five Works for the Dramatic Soprano Voice and Orchestra" and an article with the same title, appearing in the March/April 2009 issue of the National Association of Teachers of Singers (NATS) Journal of Singing.
For future bookings, Kathleen can be reached at kathleensasnett@gmail.com or at 614.256.2789.