Hailed for her voice of “gleaming black lacquer,” and “unbelievable power,” American mezzo-soprano Katherine Lerner wields her richly hued instrument with sensitivity and expression.

In 2017, she joined the ensemble at the Landestheater Linz (Austria) as a Dramatic Mezzo, where in her house debut as the Amme, in a new production of die Frau ohne Schatten, she received rave reviews. During her five years in the ensemble, she went on to sing roles such as Kundry/Parsifal, Azucena/Il Trovatore, Fidès/le Prophète, Klytämnestra/Elektra, and Brängane/Tristan und Isolde among others.

The 2014 season brought her to the Metropolitan Opera, where she covered the roles of Olga in Eugene Onegin and Bersi in Andrea Chénier. In 2016, she appeared with the Knoxville Opera as the Witch in Hansel and Gretel, and in 2017 she sang the role of Erna in Haas’ Morgen und Abend with the Theater und Orchester Heidelberg.

Prior to that, Ms. Lerner cut her teeth as a member of the Ryan Opera Center, where during her three years in the program (2008-2011), and after, as an alumna, she sang 3rd Lady/Die Zauberflöte, Rosette/Manon, Lola/Cavalleria rusticana, Wowkle/La fanciulla del West, and Siébel/Faust, among other roles and covers (Suzuki, Mercedes, Dryade, etc).

Upcoming engagements include Klytämnestra in Elektra at the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe in the 2022/23 season.

The mezzo is an accomplished recitalist, having honed her skills at the Music Academy of the West and the Steans Institute at Ravinia. She has performed with top-tier orchestras around the country, including the San Francisco Symphony, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Cleveland Orchestra.

Ms. Lerner received her Masters in Opera from the Curtis Institute of Music, and her Bachelors in Voice from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. She is the proud recipient of a Richard F. Gold Career Grant, as well as awards from the Opera Columbus, Opera Birmingham, and Florida Grand Opera competitions. Most recently, she was nominated for the Österreichische Musiktheaterpreis two years in a row for her work in Linz (“Best Female Lead”/Azucena/il trovatore/ and “Best Supporting Female Role”/Woman in Turnage’s Twice Through the Heart).

Lauded by the New York Times as a “vibrant mezzo soprano” and a “dark toned, agile mezzo soprano”, Hyona Kim joined the Dortmund Opera in Germany as a member of the ensemble in 2018 and made her much acclaimed house and role debut singing Amneris in Verdi’s Aïda. Other parts that she performed at the Dortmund Opera are Suzuki in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, Tzippie in Oliver Knussen’s Wo die wilden Kerle wohnen (Where The Wild Things Are) and the title role in the German Premiere production of Frédégonde by Ernest Guiraud, Paul Dukas and Camille Saint-Saëns. Future engagements include Ortrud in Wagner’ Lohengrin and Nancy Tang in John Adams’s Nixon in China. Kim joined the Metropolitan Opera for the 2022/23 season covering the role of Eboli in Verdi’s Don Carlo. She made her San Francisco Opera debut singing a leading role, Lady Wang in Bright Sheng’s world premiere Dream of the Red Chamber under George Manahan in 2016 and was critically acclaimed as “Unstoppable powerhouse” by the San Francisco Chronicle and performed the same role with Hong Kong Arts Festival under Muhai Tang. She returned to San Francisco Opera for the revival of Dream of the Red Chamber and will return for the role of Suzuki in Madama Butterfly. She has also sung with New York City Opera, Romanian National Opera Cluj-Napoca, Opera Carolina, Opera Lancaster, Opera Company of Middlebury among others. Other roles which she has performed around the world include Azucena in Verdi’s Il Trovatore, Dame Quickly in Verdi’s Falstaff, Hermia in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Wowkle in Puccini’s La fanciulla del West, Olga and Larina in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin and many more.

Hyona Kim was a National finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and performed with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra conducted by Marco Armiliato at Lincoln Center. She also was the Grand Winner of the Joy in Singing Competition and performed the winner’s solo Recital at Merkin Concert Hall in New York City. She was a First Prize winner of the Gerda Lissner Competition, and a multiple grant winner at the Licia Albanese-Puccini and Giulio Gari Competitions. She is a grant recipient of the Olga Forrai Foundation and won the Jennie Tourel prize in the Poulenc Competition. She also won the Suri Competition and the Schubert Lied Competition in her native country, South Korea, where she earned her Bachelor’s degree at Ewha Womans University. She received her Master’s degree and Professional Studies Diploma from Mannes College of Music in New York City and was chosen to be the recipient of the Marian Marcus Wahl Memorial Award, awarded to a graduating singer showing particular excellence. During her time as a member of the Mannes Opera, she performed many roles with Metropolitan Opera conductor Joseph Colaneri such as Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte (Mozart), Marcellina in Le nozze di Figaro (Mozart) and Annina in Verdi’s La Traviata (Verdi), all acclaimed by Opera News. Apart from Mannes College of Music, she has participated in many festivals and projects, including Aspen Music Festival, the Music Academy of the West, International Vocal Arts Institute, the Natchez Music Festival and the Martina Arroyo Foundation. She made her Houston Grand Opera debut originating the role of Hal-Mo-Ni (grandmother) in Jeeyoung Kim’s From My Mother’s Mother at HGOco, and also has performed the lead role, Lily in Su Lian Tan’s opera Lotus Lives at Distler Hall at Tufts University in Boston. Kim has sung with the Nashville Symphony and the Sinfonia da Camera as the soloist in Handel’s Messiah and Verdi’s Requiem respectively. She made her Carnegie Hall debut with New England Symphonic Ensemble singing the alto solo in Vivaldi’s Gloria and also performed with PyeongChang Music Festival in South Korea as the alto soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No.9. She was invited by Harare International Festival of the Arts in Zimbabwe for an opera gala concert and song recital. She was the featured alto soloist in numerous concerts including performances of Bach’s St. John Passion, St. Matthew Passion and Mendelssohn’s Elijah. Passionate about chamber music and art song, Ms. Kim has appeared in many chamber music concerts and recitals with Mannes Baroque Chamber Players, the Guinnes Quartet as part of Viva Virginia, International Festival of Music, and also in several concerts of Ensemble 212, in works such as: Mahler’s Symphony No.2 and No. 3, world premieres for Chamber Orchestra both by Yoon Jae Lee, and Der Abschied from Das Lied von der Erde featured with Michael Mao Dance. She has participated in Stephanie Blythe and Alan Smith’s Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar which only performs Art Songs by living American composers. Kim also has sung with Brooklyn Art Song Society in their concert series of Les six: Francis Poulenc and Songs of Mahler.