Audience members will have the opportunity to hear what Entertainment News calls "... high notes that thrill and a creamy middle range" when St. Olaf College alumna Kelly Kaduce '96 returns to campus to deliver a performance on Sunday, March 16.The recital will begin at 7 p.m. in Christiansen Hall of Music, Urness Recital Hall. St. Olaf Assistant Professor of Piano Christopher Atzinger will accompany Kaduce as she performs a selection of 20th century music. The performance is free and open to the public. Kelly Kaduce '96 playing Marguerite in Faust with the Florida Grand Opera.
After graduating from St. Olaf with a degree in vocal performance, Kaduce earned a master's degree at Boston University and soon after won the 1999 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. She has received national acclaim, with Opera News noting that her voice has a "bell-like purity and silvery sweetness ... she suspends her legato with an effortless, sensual spin."
Her 2007-08 performance season includes a debut with Opera Pacific as Mimi in La Boheme and return engagements to Malmo Opera in Sweden as Marguerite in Faust; the Opera Theatre of St. Louis in the title role of Madame Butterfly; and the Minnesota Opera in the title role of Rusalka. Other opera companies she has performed with include the Boston Lyric Opera, Santa Fe Opera and Florida Grand Opera. 99 percent preparation + 1 percent luckIn a highly competitive line of work where getting roles is difficult, Kaduce believes that having a career like hers is
99 percent preparation and 1 percent luck. What has set her apart from most sopranos is the size of her voice in relation to the size of her body. Being a relatively small woman makes her ideal for the big lyric soprano roles that require the lead to be small and have the ability to sing over a large orchestra.
But size is not all that matters. Many directors have been impressed with Kaduce's willingness to also take on the acting side of opera. "I particularly enjoy the acting side of opera and really like to immerse myself in a role and try unusual things ... most importantly, I try to remain true to myself amongst all of the outside influence," Kaduce says.
20th century art songsPeople might think that an opera singer like Kaduce would be singing opera arias in her recital to showcase her voice, but she will instead cover a different genre of music: art song. Composers that will be featured in her recital include Arthur Honegger, Alban Maria Johannes Berg, Joaquin Turina, Enrique Granados and Ricky Ian Gordon.
Kaduce said she found the Honegger song set while studying at St. Olaf but never performed it until this year. The Gordon pieces were inspired while she was doing the Minnesota Opera's world-premiere opera version of The Grapes of Wrath music set by Gordon.
After meeting Gordon and seeing a recital given by the Minnesota Opera's young artists, she began researching Gordon's pieces and chose four compositions, titled Day Break in Alabama, A Horse with Wings, Poem (Lana Truner has Collapsed!), and Joy. "
I opted against performing any opera on the recital," Kaduce says. "I perform so much opera during my career and very little art song. When I have the opportunity to do art song, I like to take advantage of it."
"... A tranquil, beautiful haven of education"Returning to her alma mater, Kaduce reflects on how St. Olaf has affected her life. "After years of living in New York City and traveling the world, it no longer seems the enormous institution I saw it years ago," Kaduce says. "Now it appears to be a tranquil, beautiful haven of education nestled in its own corner of the world ... as I progress further in my career and life, finding ways to give back to my community become more important."