For the past two decades, Kathleen has worked closely with singers across a range of genres- from classical to musical theatre and cabaret to pop. She has a catalogue of fifty original songs, and has performed hundreds of art song in venues from Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center to concert halls and colleges across the United States and in Europe and South Africa. She has been on the faculty of SongFest at Colburn since 2014.
She recorded the CD Connection: 3 Song Cycles of Jake Heggie with soprano Regina Zona, with whom she appears frequently in recital, for the NAXOS American Classics label. Her recording with Devon Guthrie and Theo Hoffman of music by Ben Moore was recorded for SongFest’s 20th anniversary CD of commissioned works (2016). She recorded the CD Soul of Fire (2012) of songs from Spain and Latin America which received a South African Music Awards (SAMA) nomination for best classical/instrumental album- featuring her work as pianist, arranger and producer. She recorded the music of Tom Kitt with cellist Peter Sachon for the Broadway Lullaby Project (2012) and is heard on a track of the South African band Mikanic’s album, The Subway Tracks.
She has been on the faculty of SongFest at Colburn since 2014, working with young artists on a wide array of repertoire from Schubert to world premieres by Los Angeles composers. In addition to coaching participant singers and pianists, performances at SongFest include the distinguished alumni recital with Devon Guthrie and Sam Schultz (upcoming) and a world premiere by Laura Karpman with Janai Brugger.
Kathleen curated and directed programs celebrating living composers in Los Angeles (LA NOW!) and the State of California (Celebration of Californian composers), and presents the lecture Art song Under 40, focusing on new works and trends amongst younger composers and creators.
As a performer, she has a great affinity for American art song, and has worked extensively with American composers on their work- including Jake Heggie, Ricky Ian Gordon, Laura Karpman, Libby Larsen, Anne LeBaron, Ted Hearne, Richard Danielpour, Ben Moore, Paula Kimper, Glen Roven and Tom Cipullo.
She co-founded the New York ensemble SongFusion, and created multiple programs for the group, including the multidisciplinary project States of Mind that mixed contemporary American art song with visual art, and the annual festival, NY NOW! that presented New York-based composers.
As a songwriter, she has written commissioned work for the Cape Philharmonic with three solo singers, and her work with Sophie Jaff has yielded the full-length musical Erika’s Wall (Dramatist Guild Fellows 2014-15) and the song collection Apple Heart. Their songs have been performed at Playwrights Horizons, 54 Below, Lincoln Center and The Duplex in New York, as well as in Chicago at The Music Theatre Company.
Her three cross-genre productions created with South African singer Zanne Stapelberg include links to the pages Soul of Fire, Spieël Speel (an Afrikaans alt-cabaret with original music and lyrics by Afrikaans literary greats) and the intimate program Wordsong, a mix between a classical recital and a cabaret.