MILWAUKEE, WI (WHBL) - Last year around this time WHBL News did a story on Kathryn Henry, a graduate of Sheboygan South High School who was preparing for the semi-finals in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Audition. One year later, she reflected with WHBL News about the experience, which has been nothing but positive and she continues to reap the benefits.
Henry’s semi-final experience was in March of last year at the Met. That consisted of only a piano player and herself on the stage. She did well enough to make it to the finals, which meant she performed on the stage again a week later, although with a different environment. “It was with the Met orchestra, and it was with a full house. So it was extremely exciting and I was there for a week and I got to train with some of the Metropolitan opera staff. That was incredibly useful and very helpful with my career and learning and just everything. I’m so lucky that I got that opportunity.”
While Henry was not selected to be one of the five winners of the nine finalists that performed back in March, she did receive a five-thousand dollar cash prize and a possible spring board into the world of opera singers and productions. Henry did not have any goal when she competed last year since this was her first audition. “So I honestly just wanted to go out there and do my best, and then I got chosen to do the finals. That was a huge deal to be selected from over 15-hundred people to nine finalists.”
Since the events last March, Henry is back at school at UW-Milwaukee to finish her undergraduate degree in vocal performance. She also got the chance to perform with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and a few recitals in Wisconsin and New York. She will soon be focusing on her future education. “At the end of this month and the beginning of next I’m auditioning for Julliard and Curtis Institute for graduate school. So hopefully I’ll have the chance to go out there and go out east for next year.”
Henry will be back in the Sheboygan area to perform on April 24 as part of the Kohler Foundation’s Arts at the Waelderhaus for 2016. She will perform the same recital that she had done since last year with a piano accompanist.
Henry says the experience in New York has given her the push needed to stay in the opera business. “They encouraged me to keep going into this career and do what I love, and it really opened my eyes, and I seeing that I was good enough to do this was an amazing experience. Now I know what to do. I know how to keep pursuing this career and how to keep learning. That was an extremely important part of my career so far and I will never take that for granted, and I will always remember that and I will always use what I learned there.”
Being a singer, or any entertainer, is not an easy occupation to make a living from. Henry says the trials and struggles that have and will come won’t deter her from her dream. “I would not change my life at all. I love what I do. I love that I get to wake up every morning and sing and do what I love every single day, and then I get to share it with so many people and share my experiences with so many people. It’s truly awesome.”
More information and several of Henry's song performances can be found at a website she has set up. Click here to access it.