Shakespeare's 'Romeo & Juliet' at Pioneer Courthouse Square
Free
- Katherine Goforth, voice
- Gregory Brumfield, voice
- Emily Faiella, voice
- Alexis Hamilton, voice
- Susan McDaniel, piano
The first opera ever written debuted in 1597—the year in which The Merry Wives of Windsor premiered. Ever since, Shakespeare's plays have inspired many composers. The first opera based on Shakespeare was Macbeth written barely 50 years after the Bard's death—and now there are hundreds of operas that have been written based on his works.
This year, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's first folio, Portland Opera is presenting an innovative hour-long program featuring Shakespeare's spoken word and Gounod's gorgeous score of Romeo and Juliet. The performance will feature artists Katherine Goforth, Gregory Brumfield, Emily Faiella, Alexis Hamilton, and Susan McDaniel.
This production is curated in partnership with "Shakespeare's First Folio: 1623–2023," a public humanities project at Portland State University in collaboration with other regional arts organizations recognizing and celebrating Shakespeare's legacy. More information: http://bit.ly/shakespeare-folio-portland
About Katherine Goforth, voice
American vocalist Katherine Goforth shares the "thrilling tenor power" (Opera News) of her "noble, colorful and iridescent vocal sound" (Magazin Klassik) in vivid character portraits and heartfelt performances that "[do] not hold back" (The New York Times). A transgender woman, Katherine is undeterred by historical barriers in the performing arts and is finding new ways to show up authentically on stage, in the rehearsal room, and as a creative artist.
Katherine is the recipient of Washington National Opera's inaugural True Voice Award for transgender and non-binary singers and the Career Advancement Award from the fourth Dallas Symphony Orchestra Women in Classical Music Symposium. She won critical acclaim as part of the cast that premiered Philip Venables and Ted Huffman’s The Faggots and Their Friends Between Revolutions at Manchester International Festival, Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, and Bregenzer Festspiele. Based in Portland, OR, she has appeared extensively as a soloist with Pacific Northwest-based arts organizations, including Portland Opera, Bozeman Symphony, Walla Walla Symphony, Yakima Symphony, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Opera Bend, Harmonia Seattle, Opera Theater Oregon, Sound Salon (formerly Byron Schenkman and Friends), Ping and Woof Opera, Artists Repertory Theatre, Fuse Theatre Ensemble, and Pink Martini.
Equally at home as a creative artist, Katherine was most recently part of the team that developed and produced Nu Nah-Hup: Sacajawea's Story, a collaboration with Rose Ann Abrahamson, Sacajawea's familial descendant, Hovia Edwards, Native American flutist, and Justin Ralls, composer and artistic director of Opera Theater Oregon, starring mezzo soprano Marion Newman and baritone Richard Zeller. She has written for Opera Canada, and spoken at Boston Conservatory, Whitman College, Renegade Opera, the Beyond Travesti podcast, and the League of American Orchestras Anne Parsons Leadership Program. She is a member of the Beth Morrison Projects Producer Academy 2023 Cohort.
Katherine was a member of the International Opera Studio of Oper Köln, received her Bachelor's degree from St. Olaf College, her Master's degree from the Juilliard School, and attended the Franz-Schubert-Institut, Britten Pears Young Artist Programme, Heidelberger Frühling Liedakademie, Georg Solti Accademia, and Boston Wagner Institute.
https://katherinegoforth.com/