Catherine Foster
– World management –
Catherine Foster is one of the worlds leading dramatic sopranos and she has set herself apart internationally through her work with the Wagnerian repertoire. She is considered one of the most important soloists to have appeared over the last decade at the Bayreuth Festival singing Brunnhilde and Isolde.
Little did she know, when starting out professionally as Queen of the Night in the Magic flute with Welsh National Opera and English National opera, that her journey would quickly take her to Germany where she was engaged to sing her first Wagner role – Elisabeth in Tannhauser – by Alexander George Albrecht. There followed many roles, gaining her stage experience with Mimi, Fidelio, Don Carlo, Il Trovatore, Nabucco, Tosca, Kaiserin, Fliegende Hollander, Forza del Destino, Eglatine in Euryanthae and Turandot before stepping into the bigger Wagner and Strauss repertoire with Brunnhilde, Isolde, Elektra and Fäberin shortly after.
Little did she know, when starting out professionally as Queen of the Night in the Magic flute with Welsh National Opera and English National opera, that her journey would quickly take her to Germany where she was engaged to sing her first Wagner role – Elisabeth in Tannhauser – by Alexander George Albrecht. There followed many roles, gaining her stage experience with Mimi, Fidelio, Don Carlo, Il Trovatore, Nabucco, Tosca, Kaiserin, Fliegende Hollander, Forza del Destino, Eglatine in Euryanthae and Turandot before stepping into the bigger Wagner and Strauss repertoire with Brunnhilde, Isolde, Elektra and Fäberin shortly after.
These roles have taken her all over the world and onto some of the biggest stages. From Tokyo to Shangahi, Washington to Madrid, Barcelona and Seville to the Royal Ballet and Opera in London, Budapest to Athens and Amsterdam and from Melbourne to Helsinki. Catherine has sung across Germany from the Bayreuth Festival to Dresden, Munich, Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, Frankfurt and many more working with some of the worlds greatest names in conducting and regularly collaborating with conductors like Simone Young, Kirill Petrenko, Marek Janowski, Adam Fisher, Philippe Auguin, Pietari Inkenen, Sir Donald Runnicles, Hartmut Haenchen, Andris Nelsons, Alexander Soddy, Juraj Valcuha, Kent Nagano, Dan Ettinger and Daniel Barenboim.
On the international concert stages Catherine is also a welcome guest and interprets works, such as Verdi’s Requiem, Mahler’s 8th Symphony (Magna Peccatrix), Britten’s War Requiem and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony.
On the international concert stages Catherine is also a welcome guest and interprets works, such as Verdi’s Requiem, Mahler’s 8th Symphony (Magna Peccatrix), Britten’s War Requiem and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony.
For her work as an international singer Catherine has been awarded an honorary fellowship of the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and the Reginald Goodall Award for her devotion to the works of Richard Wagner by the London Wagner Society. More recently Catherine was awarded the Australian Green room award for Outstanding performance in a lead Role for her portrayal of Elektra with the Victorian Opera in Autumn 2022.
As the 2023/24 season closes with a resounding success as Brunnhilde at the Bayreuth Festival with Simone Young conducting, the 2024/25 season will include Fäberin in a new production of Die Frau Ohne Schatten at the Deutsche Oper Berlin with Sir Donald Runnicles conducting and Tobias Kratzer directing, the Tristan und Isolde revival at Hamburg Staatsoper with Kent Nagano conducting and Turandot at the Odeon of Herodias Atticus in Greece as well as future projects including Brunnhilde, Elektra, Turandot and Isolde.
As the 2023/24 season closes with a resounding success as Brunnhilde at the Bayreuth Festival with Simone Young conducting, the 2024/25 season will include Fäberin in a new production of Die Frau Ohne Schatten at the Deutsche Oper Berlin with Sir Donald Runnicles conducting and Tobias Kratzer directing, the Tristan und Isolde revival at Hamburg Staatsoper with Kent Nagano conducting and Turandot at the Odeon of Herodias Atticus in Greece as well as future projects including Brunnhilde, Elektra, Turandot and Isolde.
September 2024 – For the most recent biography, please contact Bartosz Jakóbczak