Kendra Colton ’83

Biography

Noted soprano soloist Kendra Colton has performed with the Boston, Indianapolis, Houston, National, Pittsburgh and San Francisco Symphony Orchestras; the Cleveland and Minnesota Orchestras, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra.

The 1983 Oberlin graduate originally trained as a pianist. She didn’t start studying voice until her second year at Oberlin. She is adept at a wide range of repertoire, and has developed a niche in oratorio and sacred works from Bach to Brahms, has given acclaimed performances of Handel and Mozart operas, and is recognized for her interpretation of contemporary chamber music and championing of little-known works written in the last century. 

In 2013, Colton joined forces with longtime collaborator and former Oberlin classmate Kayo Iwama to record the remarkable set of songs by Welsh composer Andy Vores in Oberlin’s Clonick Hall and recording studio. Iwama is associate director of the Graduate Vocal Arts Program at the Bard College Conservatory of Music. Their collaboration led to the recording, The Reckless Heart (2015) on the Oberlin Music label.

She has performed oratorio, opera and orchestral works that have included Mozart’s Il Re Pastore (Aminta) for Boston Lyric Opera and Handel’s Tolomeo (Seleuce) at the International Handel Festival in Göttingen, Germany.

Performances of Bach’s B Minor Mass, St. Matthew Passion, St. John Passion, and Christmas Oratorio; Handel’s Messiah, Solomon, and Saul oratorios; Mass in C Minor and Requiem by Mozart; and Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass.