Kara Morgan, mezzo soprano

Kara "stunned" audiences with "sublime singing and solid comedic timing" in her portrayal of Melissa

phenoMNal twin cities

"Kara Morgan's death scene...brought down the house in the first act"

Boston Music Intelligencer

"Morgan was particularly inspiring. Director Eric Gibson created a very physical show and Morgan rolls with the necessary looseness of a young boy, but the mezzo-soprano sang like a seasoned vet"

InForum

"Stealing the show was Kara Morgan as Mad Margaret"

Barnstable Patriot

"The major energy driving the action came from mezzo Kara Morgan, who has a warm, attractive voice, fully expressive of confidence and ease with the world, so we never had problems seeing her Hansel as the hero of the opera. Morgan’s sense of timing was impeccable."

Opera News

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is a mezzo soprano pursuing her passion to make a name for herself in the opera house and on the concert stage.

Kara Morgan

Since her first experience singing as part of Minnesota Opera's youth program Project Opera!, Kara has dedicated herself to studying the art, languages, and characters of opera.

Just announced: Kara was named one of two Winners at the North Dakota-Manitoba District of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. And in April 2022, Kara appears in the title role of An Opera Theatre's highly-anticipated remounted production of Britten's The Rape of Lucretia.

Kara opened the 2021-22 season by joining the Bach Roots Festival as a soloist in their end-of-summer Vespers and Masterwork Finale concerts. She then made an exciting company debut with Pacific Opera Project in their production of Hansel and Gretel, earning a nod from Opera News for her "warm, attractive voice" and "impeccable timing." Earlier in the year, Kara returned to Sarasota Opera for the second half of their reimagined 2021 Winter Festival Season. As a Resident Artist, Kara was heard in SOA's production of Dido and Æneas as Spirit in the Form of Mercury while covering the title role and covered the role of Marianna in the Rossini farce, Il Signor Bruschino. In Spring 2021, Kara was named the First Place Arlene Didier Scholarship Award Winner in the 98th Annual Schubert Club Competition.

In Summer 2020, Kara was slated to return to Mill City Summer Opera singing Giovanna and covering Maddalena in their July production of Verdi’s Rigoletto and join Lakes Area Music Festival as an inaugural Vocal Fellow covering the role of Mary in Wagner's Der fliegende Holländer - the productions were both cancelled due to the Covid-19 outbreak. In the fall, Kara was looking forward to joining Sarasota Opera for their presentation of Mozart's Don Giovanni as well as making her company debut with Journey North Opera singing Taller Zegner Daughter in the Minnesota premiere of Missy Mazzoli’s Proving Up. Journey North Opera hopes to mount the premiere in Fall 2022.

Kara began her 2019/20 season with a return to Fargo-Moorhead Opera, making her mainstage debut as Hansel in their fall production of Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel. She made debuts with the Oratorio Society of Minnesota, appearing in their program of French sacred music, most notably singing the alto solo in Duruflé’s Requiem, and with the Chicago Bar Association Symphony Orchestra as a recipient of The American Prize Chicago Oratorio Award, appearing as the mezzo soloist in their presentation of Handel’s Messiah.

In the 2018/19 season, Kara made role and company debuts with Fargo-Moorhead Opera singing Dorabella in Così fan tutte and Mercédès in Carmen, Mill City Summer Opera covering Dorabella, and the Lakes Area Music Festival covering the title role of Offenbach’s La belle Hélène.

Other performed roles of note include Ottone (Agrippina), Madame de Croissy (Dialogues of the Carmelites), Dritte Dame (Die Zauberflöte), and Mrs. Soames (Our Town). On the concert stage, Kara has been heard as a soloist in Vaughan Williams’ Mass in G Minor, Mozart’s Coronation Mass, and Erik Satie’s Socrate. No stranger to operetta, Kara has notably sung the roles of Mad Margaret (Ruddigore), Katisha (The Mikado), and Melissa (Princess Ida). She is a graduate of Drake University and the New England Conservatory as well as apprenticeships with Fargo-Moorhead Opera, Sarasota Opera and Santa Fe Opera.

Kara is currently based in the Minneapolis, where she studies with mezzo soprano Victoria Vargas and enjoys working on counted cross stitch, listening to NPR, perusing museums, and spending time with her family and her dog, Davos.