Dr. Katherine Polit
Lecturer of Voice
SDSU
Bio
Hailed by Opera News as “vibrant,” Dr. Polit is a passionate performer and educator. At home in both the concert hall and on the operatic stage, recent appearances include Pamina in The Magic Flute with Pacific Symphony, Mozart’s Exsultate Jubilate with Helena Symphony, Vivaldi’s Gloria at David Geffen Hall, and Samuel Barber’s Knoxville, Summer of 1915 with the Owensboro Symphony. She apprenticed with Virginia Opera for two seasons and returned to perform the role of Ännchen in Der Freischütz.
Her other notable operatic roles include Musetta (La Bohème), Nannetta (Falstaff), Clorinda (Rossini’s Cinderella), Despina (Così fan tutte), Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Johanna (Sweeney Todd), and Josephine (H.M.S. Pinafore). She has been featured with The Ohio Light Opera, Opera Naples, Charlotte Symphony, Opera Louisiane, and Charlottesville Opera. Locally she has sung with San Diego Opera, La Jolla Symphony, Bodhi Tree Concerts, and North Coast Symphony. Accolades include being chosen as a finalist in the Rochester Idol Competition and the Fritz and Lavinia Jensen Foundation Competition.
She completed her Doctor of Music in Vocal Literature and Performance at Indiana University, where she taught voice lessons as an associate instructor, and assisted with undergraduate opera workshop. Dr. Polit received recognition for her excellence in recital with a Performer’s Certificate and took part in projects with Indiana University’s Early Music Institute and The Bloomington Bach Cantata Project. She holds a Master of Music in Opera Performance from the University of Texas at Austin and a Bachelor of Humanities and Arts from Carnegie Mellon University.
Education
- DM, Vocal Performance and Literature, Indiana University
- MM, Opera Performance, The University of Texas, Austin
- BHA, Carnegie Mellon University