Kate Lindsey

"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, mezzo-soprano Kate Lindsey possesses a rare combination of world class vocal artistry coupled with equally expansive acting gifts. This “force of nature” (SFCV) is a regular guest on the world’s most celebrated stages, 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 2024-2025, Kate Lindsey continues to dazzle audiences in wide variety of world premieres and new productions. With Teatro alla Scala she launches the season as Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier under the baton of Kirill Petrenko. She later returns to the storied opera house to create the leading role of Adso da Melk the world premiere of Il nome della rosa, composed by Francesco Filidei and staged by Damiano Michieletto.

A second world premiere brings Lindsey to the Vienna State Opera and its new venue “NEST”. Under the direction of Jan Lauwers (Needcompany), the mezzo takes on the title role of Lee Miller in the cantata Lee Miller in Hitler’s Bathtub, exploring the riveting life of the eponymous American model and WWII photographer. Further performances in Vienna include the Composer in Ariadne auf Naxos and Charlotte in Massenet’s Werther in a production by Andrei Serban. Additionally, Lindsey returns to the Royal Opera House as Hänsel for its holiday presentation of Hänsel and Gretel under the baton of Giedrė Šlekytė.

An in-demand interpreter of concert and Lied repertoire, this season Kate Lindsey presents works by Haydn, Vivaldi, Bellini, Rossini and Offenbach. Together with tenor Rolando Villazón, they embark on a tour of their concert program Amore e follia with stops at Festival der Nationen, Zürich’s Tonhalle, Vienna’s Konzerthaus, Prague and Zlin. This program highlights touching operatic arias and duets under the theme of ‘love and madness’. At Vienna’s Stephansdom, Kate Lindsey appears as soloist in the highly acclaimed Advent concert with Wiener Symphoniker, led by Stephane Denève.  At the Opéra national du Rhin in Strasbourg the mezzo-soprano concludes her season presenting her celebrated recital program Thousands of Miles.

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 Vienna State Opera, she created the title role in the world premiere of Olga Neuwirth’s Orlando, made her role debut as Donna Elvira in Barry Koskie’s new production of Don Giovanni, and sang the roles of Nerone in L’incoronazione di Poppea, Sesto in La clemenza di Tito, Miranda in The Tempest, 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, Handel 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.