Award winner of the 2004 George London Foundation, 2003 and 2004 Gerda Lissner Foundation, the 2004 Career Bridges Foundation, 2004 Opera Index and the 2003 Liederkranz Society competitions, soprano Karen Foster is establishing herself as a promising young dramatic talent.

In 2007-08 Ms. Foster is reengaged with the Lyric Opera of Chicago for their production of Strauss' Die Frau ohne Schatten.

Recently, Ms. Foster joined the Lyric Opera of Chicago and Seattle Opera in their 2005 Ring cycle as the cover for Helmwige, Gerhilde and Ortlinde in Die Walküre. Ms. Foster completed apprenticeships with the Santa Fe Opera and Sarasota Opera where she performed segments from Verdi's Macbeth, Puccini's Tosca, and Gounod's Faust. Ms. Foster's roles to date include Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, Giorgetta in Il Tabarro, Ariadne in Ariadne auf Naxos, the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni. Her performance as the Countess was described as "first rate in every detail - vocally, musically, linguistically and dramatically," by Metropolitan Opera conductor, Steve Crawford. She also performed Wellgunde in Das Rheingold and Helmwige in Die Walküre with the Wagner Theater at Mannes. In August of 2004 she recorded the role of Schleppträgerin in Elektra under the baton of Semyon Bychkov.

Equally comfortable in concert, Ms. Foster has performed such works as Mendelssohn's "Lobgesang" Symphony No. 2, Bach's St. John's Passion, Handel's Messiah, and Honneger's King David with conductor Ford Lallerstedt of the Curtis Institute of Music. She has also performed the Verdi Requiem with the New York Choral Society's annual Summer Sing. Ms. Foster has performed recitals for the Bohemian Society of New York and Texas.

A Texas native, Ms. Foster holds an undergraduate degree in Music from Rice University and a Masters in Music from University of Texas at Austin.