Katerina Skafidas, known by her colleagues as Kat, is a Boston-based soprano from Syracuse, New York. She is active throughout the Northeast, particularly between New York and New England.
While active on the operatic stage, she is also well-versed in early music, musical theater, and new music written by living composers.
In the Boston area, she can regularly be heard singing at St. Michael's Episcopal Church in Milton, where she sings on the schola cantorum and is also currently an interim co-music director with her partner, Kyle Seniw. She teaches and sings with Whole Tone Music Academy, a collective of teaching artists in Somerville. She also sings with the professional chamber choir, Carduus, and the evensong choir, Lux Arcana.
Recently, she won the 2022 Seattle District round of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition and competed in the 2023 Western Regional round.
She also sang as a soloist and chorister in the preview (2021), studio recording, and premiere (2022) of Linda Chase's environmental oratorio for climate change, Laudato Sì: For Our Common Home. The commissioned choir she sang with for this piece is called Carduus, under the director Holly Druckman, and they regularly sing around the Boston area. Linda Chase is a Boston-based composer, flutist, and contemporary music educator. The November 2021 preview was held at New England Conservatory, the studio recording was held at WGBH Studios in May 2022, and the world premiere was on June 25, 2022, at Old Cambridge Baptist Church.
She recently earned her graduate degree in voice and opera studies, with a concentration in voice pedagogy at the New England Conservatory (M.M. '22).
At the New England Conservatory Opera, she sang the roles of 'Princesse' in L'enfant et les sortilèges, 'Second Woman' in Dido and Aeneas, ' 'Dalinda' in a semi-staged scenes production of Ariodante, and 'Danica' in Svadba, an a capella, 6-woman, 55-minute opera in Serbian by Ana Sokolović.
In the spring of 2020, she prepared the role of 'Dido' in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas for the Syracuse University Opera. Due to the unfortunate COVID-19, this and all her remaining 2020 performances were canceled (including her senior recital). However, she learned a great deal about virtual programming, rehearsing, and online teaching, as well as recording and microphone techniques during this time.
In 2019, she performed ‘Contessa' in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro twice, once in an English adaptation at Syracuse University, and once in Italian at the New York Lyric Opera Theatre. In later 2019, she also participated in Syracuse University's production of the staged song cycle, Vignettes: Ellis Island by Alan Louis Smith. Earlier on at SU Opera, in 2018, she sang 'Ciesca' in Puccini's Gianni Schicchi, and in 2017, she sang 'Julie' in Speed Dating Tonight!
Ms. Skafidas trained from a young age as an actress, a dancer, a pianist, and a chorister. Her father George was a composer, conductor, and piano teacher, and her mother Cynthia is an active pianist, organist, and piano teacher. Cynthia and Kat often perform as a soprano/piano duo.
An enthusiastic part of the Central New York scene, Ms. Skafidas engaged in opera and new music professionally as a recitalist, in comprimario roles, and as a chorister with a number of companies including Syracuse Opera, Society for New Music, Syracuse Shakespeare Festival, and Civic Morning Musicals. She graduated summa cum laude at the Setnor School of Music (B.M. '20) at Syracuse University and studied with Janet Brown. She represented her class as a graduating Class Marshal for the College of Visual and Performing Arts, having spent her time as a VPA peer advisor, music theory tutor, and work-study in Setnor Operations as a house manager.
Ms. Skafidas is a sister of Sigma Alpha Iota, the international music fraternity for women, as well as Pi Kappa Lambda, the National Music Honor Society. She has worked with various local and student composers on premiering their new music, particularly through the Society for New Music, an organization supporting local artists and contemporary music. In conjunction, she also worked as an intern for the Society for New Music.
Ms. Skafidas has sung in varying mediums from internationally competitive barbershop choruses to early music, to chamber music, to musical theater. She does not discriminate against an opportunity to make music and tell a story. She is available upon request on contract for various musical services, including weddings and funerals, liturgical or secular. She actively takes inquiries for new music and collaborates with composers often.
Alongside her performing endeavors, she also teaches voice lessons, offering in-person instruction in the Boston area and online virtual lessons. Inquiries may be made by contacting her via email or phone.
She can also be found in the arts admin and non-profit sector. Currently, she is working with her voice teacher Jane Eaglen in running the Boston Wagner Society and Ms. Eaglen's educational program, the Boston Wagner Institute for young dramatic voices. Jane, who is the president of BWS, delegated Kat as head artistic admin who is currently working to market and rebrand the society, has digitized the society's records, and rebuilt its website.
Recent Roles: Danica (Svadba), Princess & Frog (L'enfant et les sortilèges), Second Woman (Dido & Aeneas), Contessa (Le Nozze di Figaro), Ciesca (Gianni Schicchi), Dido (Dido & Aeneas), La Cugina (Madama Butterfly), Apparitionze (Macbeth), Julie (Speed Dating Tonight!), Dalinda (Ariodante, first act semi-staged)
Chorus: Bernstein: Candide, Bizet: Carmen, Mozart: Don Giovanni & Cosi fan tutte, Poulenc: Dialogues of the Carmelites, Puccini: Madama Butterfly, Verdi: La Traviata & Macbeth.
Venues: Carnegie Hall, Jordan Hall, Lincoln Center, Opera America, Syracuse Opera, Society for New Music, New York Lyric Opera, Civic Morning Musicals, Syracuse Chorale, Syracuse Pops, and Syracuse Shakespeare Festival.
Awards & Acknowledgments:
- Civic Morning Musicals Vocal Competition: 2023 Phyllis Bryn-Julson Award
- Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition: 2022 Seattle District Winner
- New England Conservatory: 2022 Academic Honors & Dean's List
- Civic Morning Musicals Vocal Competition: 2018 First prize, Neva Pilgrim Award
- Society for New Music: Cazenovia Counterpoint Rising Star
- Setnor School of Music: Anna Freeland Berry Memorial Prize in Voice, Sigma Alpha Iota Scholastic Award, Civic Morning Musicals Award, Donna Miller Award in Voice
- SU College of Visual & Performing Arts: 2020 VPA Class Marshal
