Kate Semmens is a soloist with many leading groups and opera companies, and sings with some of the UK's finest choirs. Her opera performances have included Cupid (Venus and Adonis), Mycene (Isis), Suzanna (Le Nozze de Cherubino), and Mrs P (The Man who mistook his wife for a hat). For New Chamber Opera, performances include Galatea (Acis and Galatea), Second Woman (Dido and Aeneas), Orgando (Amadigi), Atalanta (Xerxes) and Semira (Artaxerxes).  She also created the role of Euridice in Caldwells' The Story of Orpheus.  Of her Ciro, in their production of Stradella's Il Trespolo Tutore, Opera Magazine wrote "the clarity and charm of Kate Semmens' soprano was dissarming".  She sang the title role in the first modern performance of John Stanley's Tereminta for Opera Restor'd and recently completed performances of Cavalli's Erismena, from the original English edition bought by the Bodleian Library in 2009. She has sung under many conductors including Sir John Elliot Gardiner, Paul McCreesh, Peter Holman, Professor John Butt, Peter Holman and composer, Eric Whitacre.

Kate has been particularly enjoying performing recitals of music from the pleasure gardens, and the recent anniversaries of Thomas Arne and William Boyce have given opportubnities to explore the wealth of this music even further.

Kate has had a busy summer, playing Betty in Salieri's Falstaff , joining the Dunedin consort in one to a part performances of Bach's mass in B Minor, and preparing Schubert lieder for performances with period guitar. She is very much looking forward to recording Eric Whitacre's new Cd in October.

September 2011



For a fuller biography please contact kate@katesemmens.com