Mezzo-Soprano Kristee Haney is quickly establishing herself as a fresh, young artist in opera, concert and recital engagements. This Oklahoma native has received praise from critics for her rich sound and intense, dramatic interpretations of operatic roles. Ms. Haney has recently received critical acclaim for her performance as Mrs. Lovett in Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd with Mobile Opera.

With a great interest in contemporary compositions, Ms. Haney recently participated in a masterclass given by American composer William Bolcom, singing his own compositions. Ms. Haney also premiered a new song cycle in the spring of 2010, which was composed for her by KU alumni Dan Mussleman, based on the poetry of Ralph Waldo Emerson entitled ‘Elemental Songs’.

Role highlights include Countess Charlotte Malcom (A Little Night Music), Baba the Turk (The Rake’s Progress), La Zia Principessa (Suor Angelica), Zweite Dame (Die Zauberflöte), Maurya (Riders to the Sea), Mrs. Lovett (Sweeney Todd), Lola (Cavalleria Rusticana), Zita (Gianni Schicchi), Hansel (Hansel and Gretel), with partial role highlights of Carmen (Carmen), Margaret Johnson (The Light in the Piazza), Mallika (Lakmé), Charlotte (Werther), Isabella (L’Italiana in Algeri), Dorabella (Cosi fan Tutte) and Octavian (Der Rosenkavalier).

Ms. Haney has performed with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Mobile Opera, St. Petersburg Opera, Wichita Grand Opera, Kansas City Puccini Festival, Kansas Concert Opera, Civic Opera Theatre of Kansas City, Light Opera Oklahoma, Reach out Kansas, Kansas City Baroque Consortium, Orpheus Chamber Singers, Armonia Early Music Ensemble, Boston Early Music Festival, and at the Spoleto Festival USA.
As an active oratorio soloist, highlights include such works as Vivaldi’s Gloria, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, Bach’s Mass in B Minor, Magnificat, St. John’s Passion, Handel’s Dixit Dominus and Messiah. After a performance of Bach’s Mass in B Minor, Ms. Haney was hailed as the “stand-out soloist … whose seemingly effortless agility in scaling Bach's vocal demands was exceptional.”
Ms. Haney is currently an apprentice artist with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, a doctoral voice student of mezzo - soprano Joyce Castle at the University of Kansas, and an adjunct voice faculty member at William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri.
Upcoming engagements in 2012 include performances as the 2nd Secretary in Adams' Nixon in China with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City and her role / company debut of Elizabeth Proctor with Rimrock Opera in Ward’s The Crucible. Ms. Haney has also been selected as a vocal fellow in the voice and opera program under the direction of the celebrated mezzo – soprano Marilyn Horne at the Music Academy of the West for the 2012 festival season.





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