Kathleen Halm
Soprano KATHLEEN HALM
has been praised for her dramatic vocal portrayals of standard spinto repertoire. Her most recent successes have been as the Foreign Princess in New Orleans Opera's production of Rusalka, for which the Times Picayune said "Soprano Kathleen Halm’s Foreign Princess has a villainous bearing and regal voice." She returned to New Orleans Opera's stage as Jade Boucher in Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking the following year and sang on their 75th Anniversary Gala in 2017. Upcoming performances include Giorgetta in Puccini's Il tabarro with Mobile Opera.
Reviews for her debut in the title role in Norma with the South Florida Opera Company stated “Kathleen Halm…has a voice that soared throughout the opera. How good was she? After the famed ‘Casta Diva’ aria, members of the orchestra held their instruments with one hand while pounding their seats so they could applaud her. And that was one of many brilliant arias she sang, both solo and with others. Halm, who graces many stages worldwide while centering her work near her home in San Diego, is clearly among today’s finest sopranos. Listening to Halm’s fabulous voice as she gave vent to the fiercest emotions — while watching her use her acting ability to back up that singing — was one of the best experiences this seasoned opera lover has ever had.” Wellington Town-Crier. She was similarly critiqued for her debut in the title role in Tosca which she has also performed with Opera de Tijuana: “Kathleen Halm has a beautiful voice with a range and intensity that expanded as the role demanded.” “She used her vocal instrument to its best ability and accompanied the huge sound with believable, powerful actions. ‘Wow!’ was heard throughout the room.”
Kathleen also sang Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte with South Florida Opera for which the Wellington Town-Crier said “Kathleen Halm as Fiordiligi and Lisa Agazzi as Dorabella were delightfully daffy… The two women were both attractive and excellent singers. They brought just the right bit of fun to the action. The women were silly enough for the plot and delightful enough that they could still be loved. Their voices easily handled their parts, easing up to the high notes with no sense of strain.” Kathleen made her company debut with South Florida Opera with her debut as Cio-Cio San in Madama Butterfly for which the Wellington Town-Crier said that her “voice is breathtaking and full of emotion. …Halm performs with such despair in her voice, there isn’t a dry eye in the house.”
Kathleen was lauded for her debut of the title role in Aïda in her company debut with Festival Opera. The San Francisco Chronicle said “Halm brings a lustrous tone and precision dynamics to Aïda.” The Contra Costa Times said that “soprano Kathleen Halm is a poised and impeccable Aïda.” She made her debut with the Lyric Opera San Diego in the title role of Gilbert & Sullivan’s Princess Ida and returned to LOSD to sing Anna in The King and I. Kathleen debuted as Gilda in Verdi’s Rigoletto at PRO where the San Luis Obispo Tribune called her singing “exuberant but controlled and stylish. …she was able to pull high Cs out of thin air effortlessly.” That same year, she returned to San Luis Obispo as soprano soloist in Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with the choirs and orchestras of Cal Poly and Cuesta College.
As an active concert performer, Kathleen performed Britten’s War Requiem with the La Jolla Symphony & Chorus for which San Diego.com stated “her robust, well-supported phrases competed against the orchestra without the slightest sacrifice of lustrous tone and ample color.” Other San Diego performances included Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, Rossini’s Stabat Mater, Mozart’s Requiem, and Orff’s Carmina Burana, which she debuted with San Diego Symphony. The San Diego Union Tribune said “a highlight of the evening was soprano Kathleen Halm, a confident singer with superb control of her sensuous voice.” She sang with the San Diego Symphony again as the soprano soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in addition to excerpts from Madama Butterfly and Die Zauberflöte. Kathleen sang soprano solos in Rossini’s Petite Messe solenelle in San Diego following a turn as soprano soloist in Mendelssohn’s St. Paul for the Pacific Academy of Ecclesiastical Music. She has also been the soprano soloist for Respighi’s Laud to the Nativity, Vivaldi’s Gloria and Magnificat, and Fauré’s Requiem. Kathleen debuted as the soprano soloist in Verdi’s Requiem with the Bakersfield Symphony.
Kathleen was one of six singers participating in the 2002-2003 San Diego Opera Ensemble in which she sang Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte and other school shows. Kathleen debuted with San Diego Opera as the first Cretan Woman in Mozart’s Idomeneo as part of what Opera News called “a first-rate cast.” Classical Singer magazine said she “exhibited beauty of tone and attractive physical presence.” Kathleen returned to SDO that same season as the High Priestess in Verdi’s Aïda. She later joined San Diego Opera to sing Alisa in Lucia di Lammermoor.
Kathleen relocated to New Orleans in the fall of 2010 after being a resident of San Diego since 1997. While in San Diego, the Illinois native was the winner of the Metropolitan Opera San Diego District in 1997, 1998, and 2000, placing as a finalist in the Western Regional Metropolitan Opera Auditions in 1997. Before moving to southern California, Kathleen sang Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos at Indiana University, Evita in Evita at Circle Theatre in Illinois, as well as Eponine and Fantine in Les Miserables, Christine in Phantom of the Opera, and Dolly in Hello Dolly. In straight plays, she has portrayed Leionike in Lysistrata and Gillian in To Gillian on her 37th Birthday, both in Illinois theaters. Kathleen was a vocal student of famed soprano Virginia Zeani.
