ABOUT ME
Described as having "a light, flexible mezzo soprano sound that is well suited for the strange world of new music" (Chicago Classical Review) as well as her "flawless rhythm, nuanced articulations, and formidable talent" (I CARE IF YOU LISTEN), Kayleigh Butcher has gained critical and audience acclaim as a soloist and contemporary chamber musician all over the country.
Kayleigh began her professional career in Kansas City with the Lyric Opera, serving as one of the company’s Outreach Young Artists. From there she has enjoyed many operatic roles in Toledo, Chicago, and New York City. Most recent accomplishments include James Barry's Smashed, Robert Honstein’s My Heart Iz Open, Todd Goodman's Night of the Living Dead, Jiří Kadeřábek's Kafka's Women, Puccini's Suor Angelica, Gilbert and Sullivan's Patience, Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea, Handel's Acis and Galatea, the world premiere of Kirke Meechem's John Brown, and has been featured as alto soloist in Mozart's Requiem, Bach's Magnificat in D, Handel’s Messiah, and in Bach's Cantata BWV 4.
As a fervent supporter and advocate for contemporary music, Kayleigh has also worked with many composers including David Lang, Tristan Perich, Eve Beglarian, Holly Herndon, John Luther Adams, Chris Fisher-Lochhead, David Reminick, Jennifer Walsh, Robert Honstein, Danny Clay, Alex Temple, Molly Herron, Fjola Evans, Levy Lorenzo, Daniel Felsenfeld, Morgan Krauss, Eliza Brown, Jonathan Sokol, Max Grafe, Amanda Feery, LJ White, Bethany Younge, Ravi Kittappa, and Jennifer Jolley.
She has also collaborated with many new music ensembles including Eighth Blackbird, Third Coast Percussion, Ensemble Dal Niente, Opera on Tap NYC, the Morton Feldman Chamber Players, the Grant Wallace Band, Anti Social Music, thingNY, Fonema Consort, a.per.i.o.dic, and Rhymes With Opera, to name a few.
Kayleigh is also a founding member and the director of Quince Contemporary Vocal Ensemble, an all-female, acappella vocal quartet that explores experimental vocal techniques and improvisation. Quince has performed on many contemporary series, festivals, and at prestigious venues such as Contagious Sounds, Elastic Arts Foundation, Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, HERE Arts, Chicago’s Ear Taxi Festival, Fast Forward Austin, Chicago’s Pritzker Pavillion in Milennium Park, Omaha’s Under the Radar, National Pastime Theater, Chicago’s Cultural Center, San Francisco’s The Center of New Music, Stanford University, Nortwestern’s NUNC, Issue Project Room, Permutations, Constellation Chicago’s Frequency Series, thingNY’s Immediacies, BGSU’s Forefront Series, Chicago’s Comfort Music, High Concept Labs, and NYC’s SONiC Festival at Shapeshifter Lab.
Kayleigh received her Bachelor’s of Vocal Performance from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory, where she studied with Dr. Anne DeLaunay and Dr. Denise Knowlton. She was a graduate teaching assistant to Dr. Jane Schoonmaker Rodgers at Bowling Green State University, where she earned her M.Mus. She currently resides in New York City with her fat cat, Cherubino.
Kayleigh began her professional career in Kansas City with the Lyric Opera, serving as one of the company’s Outreach Young Artists. From there she has enjoyed many operatic roles in Toledo, Chicago, and New York City. Most recent accomplishments include James Barry's Smashed, Robert Honstein’s My Heart Iz Open, Todd Goodman's Night of the Living Dead, Jiří Kadeřábek's Kafka's Women, Puccini's Suor Angelica, Gilbert and Sullivan's Patience, Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea, Handel's Acis and Galatea, the world premiere of Kirke Meechem's John Brown, and has been featured as alto soloist in Mozart's Requiem, Bach's Magnificat in D, Handel’s Messiah, and in Bach's Cantata BWV 4.
As a fervent supporter and advocate for contemporary music, Kayleigh has also worked with many composers including David Lang, Tristan Perich, Eve Beglarian, Holly Herndon, John Luther Adams, Chris Fisher-Lochhead, David Reminick, Jennifer Walsh, Robert Honstein, Danny Clay, Alex Temple, Molly Herron, Fjola Evans, Levy Lorenzo, Daniel Felsenfeld, Morgan Krauss, Eliza Brown, Jonathan Sokol, Max Grafe, Amanda Feery, LJ White, Bethany Younge, Ravi Kittappa, and Jennifer Jolley.
She has also collaborated with many new music ensembles including Eighth Blackbird, Third Coast Percussion, Ensemble Dal Niente, Opera on Tap NYC, the Morton Feldman Chamber Players, the Grant Wallace Band, Anti Social Music, thingNY, Fonema Consort, a.per.i.o.dic, and Rhymes With Opera, to name a few.
Kayleigh is also a founding member and the director of Quince Contemporary Vocal Ensemble, an all-female, acappella vocal quartet that explores experimental vocal techniques and improvisation. Quince has performed on many contemporary series, festivals, and at prestigious venues such as Contagious Sounds, Elastic Arts Foundation, Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, HERE Arts, Chicago’s Ear Taxi Festival, Fast Forward Austin, Chicago’s Pritzker Pavillion in Milennium Park, Omaha’s Under the Radar, National Pastime Theater, Chicago’s Cultural Center, San Francisco’s The Center of New Music, Stanford University, Nortwestern’s NUNC, Issue Project Room, Permutations, Constellation Chicago’s Frequency Series, thingNY’s Immediacies, BGSU’s Forefront Series, Chicago’s Comfort Music, High Concept Labs, and NYC’s SONiC Festival at Shapeshifter Lab.
Kayleigh received her Bachelor’s of Vocal Performance from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory, where she studied with Dr. Anne DeLaunay and Dr. Denise Knowlton. She was a graduate teaching assistant to Dr. Jane Schoonmaker Rodgers at Bowling Green State University, where she earned her M.Mus. She currently resides in New York City with her fat cat, Cherubino.
