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The Americasn soprano, Karen Cook, obtained her Bachelor of Music degree from University of Tennessee at Martin (2010); and her her Master of Music degree in Voice Performance from Eastern Michigan University (2019). Her porincipale teachers were: Curt Peters, Monica Swartout-Bebow, Jami Rogers Anderson, Kwan-Yee Amy Yeung.
Karen Cook is active as a choral artist with ensembles across the country. She sings regularly with the Berwick Chorus of the Oregon Bach Festival (2018-2023), the Spoleto Festival USA Chorus (2022-2024; Conductor: Joe Miller), the Baroque on Beaver Festival (2019-2025; Conductor: Robert Nordling), Audivi (2017-2025; Director: Noah Horn), Beyond (2022-2025; Director: Brandon Johnson), Choral Artists of Michigan (2022-2025; Director: Jim Watson), Detroit Concert Choir (2016-2025; Director: Mike Mitchell), ProArteOHIO (2017-2025; Director: Stephen Caracciolo), Sounding Light (2016-2025; Director: Tom Trenney), Vox GR (2022-2025; Director: Christopher Mason), Toledo Opera (2017-2024), and the Mariners’ Church of Detroit Choir (2016-2025; Director: Kenneth Sweetman). She has also performed with the Dallas Choral Festival (2016), Knoxville Choral Society (2010-2016; Director: Eric Thorson), Knoxville Chamber Chorale (2010-2016; Director: John Orr), Taylor Festival Chorus (2018-2019; Director: Robert Taylor), Tennessee Chamber Chorus (2015-2017; Director: Alan Stevens), The Union (2022-2025; Director: Trevor Kroeger), and Knoxville Opera. She has also had the privilege of working with the British ensemble Voces8 for a year (2019-2020; Director: Paul Smith) as one of their US scholars.
Karen Cook is frequently sought after as a concert soloist and has been featured in performances including J.S. Bach's Magnificat in D major BWV 243 (2025) and Johannes-Passion BWV 245 (2025), Johannes Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem (2025), Purcell’s Te Deum and Jubilate (2023), and Schubert’s Mass in G (2024). She is principal soprano at the Baroque on Beaver Festival where she has performed as soloist in numerous works such as J.S. Bach's Cantata Christ lag in Todes Banden BWV 4 (2023), Gabriel Fauré's Requiem (2021), W.A. Mozart's Requiem (2019), Ralph Vaughan Williams' Serenade to Music (2019), and Antonio Vivaldi's Gloria (2022).
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Karen Cook also enjoys performing in the opera chorus and has appeared with Toledo Opera in Samuel Barber's Vanessa (2017), Charles Gounod's Roméo et Juliette (2024), Lehár’s The Merry Widow (2023), Puccini’s La Bohème (2020) and as the shepherd boy in Tosca (2024), and Verdi’s La Traviata (2022) and Macbeth (2019); with Knoxville Opera in Arrigo Boito's Mefistofele (2015), C. Gounod's Roméo et Juliette (2011), Puccini’s Tosca (2016), and Verdi’s Otello (2015) and Il Trovatore (2015); with Spoleto Festival USA in S. Barber's Vanessa (2023) and Puccini’s La Bohème (2022), and with the Baroque on Beaver Festival as Susanna in W.A. Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro (2024).
Upcoming engagements include Haydn’s Paukenmesse with the Detroit Concert Choir, Orff’s Carmina Burana with Audivi, J.S. Bach's Mass in B minor BWV 232 with Sounding Light, and Georges Bizet's Carmen and Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore with Toledo Opera.
Karen Cook lives in Ypsilanti, Michigan with her husband, Matt (married on May 30, 2009), and six other ladies: two dogs, three chickens, and a bearded dragon. |
