Kitty Whately is one of the UK’s most characterful mezzo sopranos of the operatic stage and concert platform, and a highly acclaimed interpreter particularly of contemporary opera and art song. She has performed leading roles in world and UK premieres of opera by Mark Anthony Turnage, Missy Mazzoli, Mark Adamo and Vasco Mandonça, alongside song cycles written especially for her by Jonathan Dove, Sally Beamish, Steven Hough, Juliana Hall and Tarik O’Regan. She has received critical acclaim for performances of opera by Benjamin Britten and Bernard Hermann, as well as a huge variety of roles from the core canon of classical opera.
As a past winner of the Kathleen Ferrier award, and former BBC New Generation Artist, Kitty is in high demand as a recitalist and concert artist. She has sung with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, and her frequent performances with the BBC orchestras include De Falla’s The Three Cornered Hat (BBC National Orchestra of Wales), her BBC Proms debut in Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’ Suite from Act II of Caroline Mathilde, as well as recordings of Ravel’s Sheherazade with BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Canteloube’s Songs of the Auvergne with John Wilson and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, and songs by Rodgers & Hammerstein, Jerome Kern and Cole Porter with BBC Concert Orchestra. Recent concert performances have included Mahler Das Lied von der Erde at the Mizmorim Festival in Basel, The Dream of Gerontius with Crouch End Festival Chorus at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Mahler’s 2nd Symphony with the orchestra of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and Mahler’s 8th Symphony with the Symphony Orchestra of Chetham’s School of Music. Kitty regularly performs recital programmes in all the major chamber venues in the UK, partnering most often with Simon Lepper, Joseph Middleton, and Anna Tilbrook, among many others. Kitty makes regular appearances on BBC Radio 3, in concert and in recordings made for Radio 3’s Composer of The Week series. She features on several discs of song, including three solo albums, as well as collaborations with other singers including Roderick Williams, Mary Bevan and Gareth Brynmor John. Kitty is the co-founder of the charity SWAP’ra (Supporting Women And Parents in Opera).