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About

(Photos (C) Pomposo Creative Team, Dasha Dare, Phil Channing, Bregenzer Festspiele/Karl Forster)


Canadian mezzo-soprano Kady Evanyshyn is championing the crossroads of classical opera and contemporary vocal music. She has been hailed by the New York Classical Review for her “lovely, dramatic voice”, Opera News for her “expressive mezzo”, and by Musical America for her “delectable” musical interpretations. For her recent debut as Charlotte at the Bregenzer Festspiele, critics raved her “luminous mezzo-soprano” and “psychologically well-balanced acting” (ORF Vorarlberg), and praised her as one who “brings a captivating presence to the stage and weaves her clear, radiant voice into the action.” (Vorarlberger News)

As an ensemble member of Staatsoper Hamburg, Kady has appeared on the stage as Siébel (Faust), Hänsel (Hänsel und Gretel), Flora (La Traviata), 2. Dame (Die Zauberflöte), Suor Dolcina (Il Trittico), Rosette (Manon), and 2. Magd (Elektra), alongside debuting the role of Amore in the world premiere of Salvatore Sciarrino’s new opera Venere e Adone, conducted by Kent Nagano. Along with reprising her roles in Venere e Adone, Hänsel und Gretel and Suor Angelica, this season she will give role debuts as Fjodor in a new production of Boris Godunov, directed by Frank Castorf, Tisbe in La Cenerentola, Mercédès in Carmen, Alisa in Lucia di Lammermoor, and Javotte in Manon.

Previously Kady was a member of the Opera Studio at Staatsoper Hamburg, performing roles such as Glascha (Kát’a Kabanová), 2. Dame (Die Zauberflöte), Sandmännchen (Hänsel und Gretel), Kate Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly),  Zaide (Il Turco in Italia), Laura (Luisa Miller), Page (Rigoletto), 2.Magd in a new production of Elektra by Dmitri Tcherniakov, Un Pastore (Tosca) and Agnes in Unseres kleines Scheisskaff – Fucking Åmål. In 2022 she gave her role debut as Hänsel in Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel at the Verbier Festival as part of the Atelier Lyrique. That summer Kady also made her debut at the Bregenzer Festspiele in Haydn’s Theresienmesse, where she returned in 2023 to make her debut as Charlotte in Massenet’s Werther, conducted by Claire Levacher.

During her studies, Kady performed as Celia in Haydn’s La fedeltà premiata, Mrs. Grose (Turn of the Screw), Frau Reich (Die Lustigen Weiber von Windsor), La Tasse Chinoise (L’enfant et les sortilèges) with Emmanuel Villaume in Alice Tully Hall, and Second Woman in Mary Birnbaum’s production of Dido and Aeneas at The Juilliard School, London’s Opera Holland Park and Opéra Royal de Versailles.

On the concert platform, she has performed works by Monteverdi with the Juilliard 415 ensemble and William Christie, Bach’s Ich habe genug, BWV 82, conducted by Simone Dinnerstein, in New York, Saint-Saëns’ Oratorio de Noel as well as Bartok’s Drei Dorfszenen, conducted by Kent Nagano.

Contemporary music has been a strong focus of Kady’s career so far. She has premiered Bruce Adolphe's I saw how fragile and infinitely precious the world is for mezzo-soprano, cello and pre-recorded electronics at the Off the Hook Summerfest in Fort Collins, CO in 2018, also presented at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Washington, D.C, sang the world premiere of Stefano Gervasoni’s Drei Grabschriften with Focus Festival, and performed the role of Claire in Jennifer Higdon’s Cold Mountain at Music Academy of the West. Other recent highlights include Berio’s Folk Songs with AXIOM in Alice Tully Hall, conducted by Jeffrey Milarsky, Druckman’s Animus II for Juilliard ChamberFest, and Edgar David Grana’s Tashi Tibet at the National Opera Center. In previous seasons Kady has worked with ensembles such as the Kronos Quartet and the ÆON Music Ensemble.

A passionate and curious recitalist, Kady was invited to partake in the 2020 Weill Institute Song Studio with Renée Fleming at Carnegie Hall, which culminated in a recital and her hall debut. She was an encouragement prizewinner at the 2017 Gerda Lissner Lieder/Song Competition, and a semifinalist in the Renata Tebaldi International Voice Competition. In 2023 Kady was the winner of the New Orleans District and received 2nd prize in the Gulf Coast Region of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition.

Kady earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s of Music from The Juilliard School, where she studied with Edith Wiens. During her time at Juilliard, she was awarded both the John Erskine Prize for exceptional scholastic and artistic achievement and the Novick Career Advancement Grant. She is a proud alumnus of the Aspen Music Festival (New Horizons Fellow), Houston Grand Opera’s Young Artists Vocal Academy, Music Academy of the West and Classic Lyric Arts. Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, she has received support from the Manitoba Arts Council and the Sylva Gelber Music Foundation.