Kelly Birch
Originally from Los Angeles, mezzo soprano Kelly Birch now resides in Kansas City, having recently completed her Doctor of Musical Arts in Vocal Performance at the University of Missouri, Kansas City.?
An active operatic and concert performer, Dr. Birch has sung regularly with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City since 2015 and with Musica Sacra since 2016. She performed Gustav Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony under the baton of Kyle Pickett and the Topeka Symphony Orchestra in April 2016 and that summer made her European debut in the role of Suzuki in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly with the Varna International Opera Academy in Bulgaria.
In 2017, she traveled to San Diego to perform the role of Delfa in Cavalli’s Giasone with Opera NEO and also won the UMKC Concerto & Aria Competition with Mozart’s “Ch’io mi scordi di te?… Non temer amato bene” with pianist Erik Lawrence. The official audio can be found on the Recordings page.
This summer, Dr. Birch will return to Varna to perform the title role in Maurice Ravel’s L’Enfant et les Sortilèges, Mrs. Jones in Kurt Weill’s Street Scene, and as the Alto Soloist in Beethoven’s Mass in C Major. In August, she will also return to Opera NEO to perform the role of Rosmira in Handel’s Partenope.
Beginning in August 2018, Ms. Birch will be joining Kansas City Lyric Opera as their Mezzo Resident Artist. She will perform as Kate Pinkerton in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly and will cover the role of Dorabella in Mozart’s Così fan tutte.
