“Flawless in voice and easy to enjoy is Kara Goodrich as Pamina. Her voice glides and lifts the listener, fills the theater and patrons look forward to having her on stage. Her dynamics during moments of lamentation were outstanding. Projection comes easily and effortlessly to Goodrich, and her solos are memorable.” –Deseret News
Athlone Artists is pleased to announce the addition of Kara Goodrich to its roster of artists. The soprano has been lauded for her “powerful, attractive, emotion-filled voice” (Opera Gene) and “exquisite interpretations” (Cache Valley Daily) on the opera and concert stage. In the 2023-24 season, Kara performed the roles of Contessa Almaviva in Le Nozze Figaro with Opera Roanoke and the title role in Rusalka with Opera Ithaca; and sang as soprano soloist in Poulenc’s Gloria and Brahms’ Requiem, the latter of which she performs again on April 28th at the Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church in Pennsylvania.
“I always joked that I didn’t have a choice but to become an opera singer,” says Kara, who spent much of her childhood backstage at Opera Philadelphia while her soprano mother and bass father performed. Kara took on her very first stage role when she was five years old, playing a street urchin in Bellini’s Norma. “My mom says that it was fated,” she laughs. “The diva came out to take her bow. And I bowed, too!” When Kara returned to Opera Philadelphia in 2023 to sing the leading role of Mimì in La Bohème, she says, “When I tell you that there were people in the chorus that I’ve known forever…It was one of the most special moments of my whole life.”
Music was in Kara’s blood, and followed her through her youth. She took voice lessons and performed whenever possible. Her parents helped her enroll in the Girard Academic Music Program, a magnet music school in Philadelphia, where she thrived. She explains, “music has always been at the core of who I am.”
Kara chose the Eastman school for her undergraduate education, where she earned her degree under the tutelage of Dr. Robert McIver, and then obtained her master’s degree from the University of Michigan, where she studied with Freda Herseth. She sang in the Young Artist Programs at Brevard and Ashlawn Opera, before securing a spot in the prestigious Academy of Vocal Arts (AVA).
“Once I was accepted to AVA, I had a chance to jump right in and sing some major leading roles, and that’s when things started taking off,” beams Kara. Some of her favorites have included Pamina in The Magic Flute and Micaëla in Carmen(which she performed with Utah Festival Opera), Fiordiligi in Cosí fan tutte, Anna in Puccini’s Le Villi, Juliette in Romeo et Juliette, Conception in L’heure Espagnole, and the title character in Rusalka, about which she says, “I could sing it every day and never get tired!”
Kara is also an enthusiastic concert performer and recitalist, cited by the New York Concert Review as a “gifted artist” who “excels in all she sings,” and has been a finalist or taken home top prizes in competitions including the Barry Alexander Vocal Competition, the Giulio Gari Competition, Kennett Square Symphony Orchestra Competition, Bologna International Opera Competition, and Mario Lanza Competition in Philadelphia. In 2020 she was a District Winner in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.
While in Michigan, Kara had her first experience visiting a specialist ENT, and became immediately interested in the science behind the voice. “I was fascinated by that portion of our job – the physiology and anatomy,” she says. “I didn’t pursue it at that time, but the spark was lit.” She later went on add a bachelor’s degree in speech language, communication sciences and disorders to her growing résumé. Now – in addition to her active life as a performer – Kara teaches voice lessons and also hosts a class at a local assisted living facility that helps singers find fulfillment and regain confidence in their aging voices.
Kara is grateful to her family for introducing her to a life lived in music, and she is looking forward to passing along her love of the art form to her nearly two-year-old daughter. She and her husband Alfred – a cellist who recently started the world’s first 3D printed carbon fiber cello company, Forte 3D – believe strongly that a career and family can go hand in hand. Kara’s philosophy: “I like to push the limits of what I’m capable of.”
