Karen Foster has received the Susan Bergholtz Memorial Award at the 2010 Liederkranz Competition, given to the second prize winner in the Wagner Division. 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, she is establishing herself as a promising young dramatic talent.

In 2012 Karen Foster makes her debut in the role of Isolde in Tristan und Isolde in a new production with Den Norske Opera (Norwegian Opera). Her 2010-11 season included reengagement with Lyric Opera of Chicago for its production of Lohengrin and joining the roster of Arizona Opera for its production of Turandot . She also appeared at the Kennedy Center through the Wagner Society of Washington D.C. to perform excerpts from Mahler's Symphony No. 8, Klagendlied , and Die drei Pintos .

Recently Ms. Foster debuted in the title role of Turandot with New Rochelle Opera and appeared as a guest soloist at the German Embassy to perform the Immolation Scene from Götterdämmerung through the Wagner Society of Washington D.C. She also appeared at Carnegie's Weill Hall in the Liederkranz Winner's Concert. Other recent successes include the roles of Helmwige in Die Walküre with Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf, Leonora in Il trovatore with the Westfield Symphony Orchestra, and a reengagement with the Lyric Opera of Chicago for its production of Strauss' Die Frau ohne Schatten .

Ms. Foster joined the Lyric Opera of Chicago and Seattle Opera in their Ring cycle as the cover for Helmwige, Gerhilde and Ortlinde in Die Walküre . She has 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. 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 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.

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