Bio
Catrine Kirkman was born in Wales and graduated from The Guildhall School of Music and Drama with a Masters in music. She won the First Prize and the Audience Prize at the John Kerr English Song competition and the GSMD Russell-Davies Prize. She has been supported by the Chandos Memorial Trust, the John Edmonds Charity, a Benslow Music Trust Scholar, a Leverhulme Trust Bursary and Associates of the Britten-Pears Programme Bursary.
A former Britten-Pears Young Artist, Catrine’s most recent operatic roles include Musetta in La Boheme at Rhosygilwen in Wales; Edith in The Pirates of Penzance & Celia in Iolanthe with the National Gilbert & Sullivan Opera company, multiple roles in the Offie nominated Express G&S with Charles Court Opera & Jessie Bond in her one woman show about the soubrette star of the Savoy operas: Unbreakable Bond.
Other opera credits include role of Hebe in Charles Court Opera’s Offie award winning production of in HMS Pinafore, First Lady and Papagena in a new translation of the Magic Flute at Iford Arts Festival; Isabel in The Pirates of Penzance with Scottish Opera and D’Oyly Carte; Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro; Oscar in Un ballo in maschera; Miss Jessel, The Turn of the Screw for Opera Up Close; Phyllis in Iolanthe, Kate in The Yeoman of the Guard & Lady Ella in Patience all with Carl Rosa Opera Company.
Catrine has worked extensively with English Touring Opera as a soloist singing the roles of Isiphile in Cavalli’s Jason; Drusilla in The Coronation of Poppea; Miss Hedgehog in Fantastic Mr Fox; Barbarina in The Marriage of Figaro; First Lady in The Magic Flute and Glasha in Katya Kabanova.
As an international soloist Catrine has performed in the USA, France, Germany, Cyprus, Lanzarote, Netherlands, Luxembourg and at the Bregenz Festival, Austria performing the the role of French Girl in Yoshi Oida’s famous production of Death in Venice and Make-Up Girl in Benedict Mason’s Playing Away directed by David Pountney.
Also experienced in period performances Catrine has premiered the roles of Asteria in Il Medo and Laodice in Hasse’s Siroe with Ensemble Serse; performed Daphne in Acteon with the Britten-Pears young artists and Ascanio in Cavalli’s La Didone with Christian Curnyn. She works regularly as a soloist with the Psallite Women’s Choir under the direction of Nancy Hadden and with the Atalante Viol consort with Erin Headley. Catrine was privileged to be a soloist in the first early song concert at the Oxford Leider festival with Joe McHardy and Richard Sweeney and can also be heard on the Heresy Records release of Motions of the Heart with the Dublin Drag Orchestra.
In concert, Catrine has worked with many great conductors including Sir Colin Davis, Paul Daniel, Edward Gardner, Richard Egarr, Emanuelle Haim, Christian Curnyn and Steven Stubbs and in venues such as the Royal Albert Hall, The Purcell Room, St John’s Smith Square, the Cadogan Hall, the Globe Theatre and the Snape Maltings Concert Hall.
As an actress, Catrine also plays the title role in the feature film In Love With Alma Cogan starring alongside Roger Lloyd Pack, Niamh Cusack and John Hurt which is now available on Amazon Prime.
Future engagements include performances of Patience at Wilton’s Music Hall, London & Express G&S at the Agatha Christie Festival in Torquay, both with Charles Court Opera. Catrine will also be returning to work with the London Philharmonic next Spring in a new piece Called Before the Firebird at the Royal Festival Hall.