(Chicago, Illinois)
2018–19 Season: Mother Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life
Mezzo-soprano Catherine Cook has appeared with San Francisco Opera in more than 40 roles since her debut in 1991. Company credits include originating the roles of Jade Boucher in Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking and Arlene Kamen and Wang Tai-Tai in Stewart Wallace’s The Bonesetter’s Daughter, Countess de Coigny (Andrea Chénier), Berta (Barber of Seville), Suzuki (Madama Butterfly), Mother Goose (The Rake’s Progress), Annina (Der Rosenkavalier), Flora (La Traviata), Lapák the Dog and Woodpecker (The Cunning Little Vixen), Emilia (Otello), Marthe (Faust), Mrs. Sedley (Peter Grimes), and La Frugola, Sister Monitor, and La Ciesca (Il Trittico). She recently sang the title role in the world premiere of Tobias Picker's Dolores Claiborne, Mrs. McLean in Susannah, Marcellina in Le Nozze di Figaro, as well as Berta (Il Barbiere di Siviglia). Cook has sung with the Metropolitan Opera in Faust and Kát’a Kabanová; at Lyric Opera of Chicago in Peter Grimes, Le Nozze di Figaro, and Il Barbiere di Siviglia; with Houston Grand Opera as Marthe, Berta, and Tisbe (La Cenerentola); and she has appeared at Los Angeles Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia, and Portland Opera as well as with the San Francisco Symphony. A winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Cook is a graduate of the Merola Opera Program and a former Adler Fellow. Recent and upcoming engagements include the Old Lady in Candide with Arizona Opera, Marthe with the Metropolitan Opera, and Mistress Quickly (Falstaff) with Opera Santa Barbara.