Biography
“…Kate Valentine, whose voice has blossomed into something quite breathtaking, is not just a soprano, but is sort of a huge soul of a person, flowering. She’s just phenomenal’ - Fiona Shaw, CBE
Kate was born in Inverness and studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama and the National Opera Studio. A Samling Foundation Alumna, her numerous awards include the Glyndebourne Anne Wood/Joanna Peters Award, a Sybil Tutton Award, a Susan Chilcott Scholarship, and Scottish Opera’s John Scott Award.
She recently made her Paris debut at the Théâtre du Châtelet as Mrs Nordstrom in Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music, alongside Leslie Caron and Greta Scacchi. Other recent operatic highlights include Countess Almaviva Le nozze di Figaro for Scottish Opera, directed by Sir Thomas Allen, and Elizabeth Zimmer in Henze’s Elegy for Young Lovers for English National Opera at the Young Vic.
Other roles to date include Armgard Offenbach’s Die Rheinnixen for New Sussex Opera, Konstanze The Abduction from the Seraglio for Opera North, First Lady The Magic Flute and Cathleen in Vaughan-Williams’ Riders to the Sea for English National Opera, Karolina in Smetana’s The Two Widows for Scottish Opera, Grizel The King’s Conjecture and Maria Gesualdo, also for Scottish Opera (Five:15), Second Women Dido & Aeneas Edinburgh International Festival, Donna Anna Don Giovanni for Samling Opera at the Sage, Gateshead, directed by Sir Thomas Allen, Rosalinde Die Fledermaus for Scottish Opera on Tour and Scottish Opera Go Round, and Countess Almaviva Le nozze di Figaro with Glyndebourne on Tour.
Concert repertory includes Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music at the Edinburgh International Festival, Handel’s Messiah at the Royal Albert Hall under Sir David Willcocks, Dixit Dominus and Solomon; Mendelssohn’s Elijah; Haydn’s Nelson Mass; Poulenc’s Gloria; Rossini’s Petit Messe Solennelle; Rutter’s Magnificat and Requiem; Mozart’s Exsultate Jubilate, Coronation Mass, Solemn Vespers and C Minor Mass.
Engagements this season and beyond include Helena A Midsummer Night’s Dream, alongside an all star cast including Willard White and Iestyn Davies, and Countess Almaviva in Fiona Shaw’s highly anticipated Le nozze di Figaro, both for English National Opera.
