Jaime Kathleen Korkos
Mezzo-soprano
Biography
San Francisco native mezzo-soprano Jaime Korkos has been singing in the Boston area for the last 10 years. In that time, she sang the title roles in Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice, Offenbach's La Périchole, Massenet's Cendrillon, and Dvorak's Rusalka, among others, during her Graduate and Artist Diplomas at the New England Conservatory. She was a Gerdine Young Artist at Opera Theatre of St. Louis for the 2012 and 2013 seasons, which included the role of Edith in The Pirates of Penzance in the 2013 season. In 2014, Ms. Korkos covered six roles in the world premiere of Steven Stucky and Jeremy Denk’s opera The Classical Style: An Opera (of Sorts) at the Ojai Music Festival and Carnegie Hall. 2014 debuts included the roles of Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro) and La Ciesca (Gianni Schicchi) with Hubbard Hall Opera Theatre, and Cendrillon (Cendrillon) with Bel Cantanti Opera. In 2015 Ms. Korkos created the role of Miss Carlisle in the world premiere of Oliver Caplan’s one-act opera The Cellist is Dead with Maestra Lidiya Yankovskaya and the Juventas New Music Ensemble. 2016 brought new projects as Ms. Korkos sang with Irish theatre company Gare St. Lazare Ireland in their Boston production of Here All Night, a theatre work based on Samuel Beckett’s writings and prose. She joined troupe again in 2018 on a 7-city tour across Ireland, performing in such venues as Dublin's famous Abbey Theatre, Cork's The Everyman, and the Wexford National Opera House. Ms. Korkos has been singing regularly with Boston Lyric Opera since their 2016 production of Carmen, including in The Rake’s Progress, Tosca, and The Threepenny Opera and will join them for The Handmaid’s Tale in 2019. Ms. Korkos sang with Boston’s Odyssey Opera as Lady Angela in their 2017 production of Patience, or Bunthorne’s Bride and will sing Orestes in their 2019 production of Offenbach's La belle Hélène. 2018 brought her debut with Boston Opera Collaborative as Hannah After in Kaminsky’s critically acclaimed As One. Along with her continued work with Boston Lyric Opera and Odyssey Opera, 2019 included her debut with San Francisco’s Pocket Opera as Anežka in Smetana’s rarely performed opera The Two Widows. Ms. Korkos will join Pocket Opera again in 2020 as Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni).
Ms. Korkos also has a passion for recital and symphonic work. Most recently, she sang a Jordan Hall performance of Luciano Berio’s Folk Songs with world renowned musicians from both the New England Conservatory faculty and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. In 2016, she sang Brahms’ Zwei Gesänge, op. 91 at the Joseph Joachim International Conference with renowned instrumentalists Mana Tokuno (piano) and James Buswell (violin/viola). In 2015, Ms. Korkos sang the alto solo in Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 with Maestro Mark Lane Swanson and the Amherst Symphony Orchestra, as well as the alto solo in Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater with organist Richard Clark and the St. Cecilia String Quartet. She also made an appearance at the 2015 Monadnock Music Festival singing American composer Charles Fussell’s song cycle November Leaves with Maestro Gil Rose and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project. In the fall of 2013, she commenced a 4-city U.S. tour with the late Phillip Gossett and the Italian chamber orchestra Ensemble Nuove Musiche performing Verdi Nostro Contemporaneo, the art songs of Verdi and his contemporaries. She gave a full solo recital in Boston's Jordan Hall with unparalleled pianist Damien Francoeur-Krzyzek, their repertoire including Peter Lieberson's Neruda Songs and Schumann’s Frauenliebe und -leben. She was a soloist in Mahler's Symphony No. 3 in Jordan Hall under the baton of Hugh Wolff, and has also been seen as a soloist in numerous performances of Handel's Messiah, including with the La Jolla Symphony, and the Atlantic Symphony Orchestra.
Jaime is a regular cantor at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston under the direction of composer and organist Richard J. Clark. The two worked together for 6 years at St. Cecilia Parish also in Boston. Ms. Korkos joined Mr. Clark in the move when he was appointed the new director of music for the Cathedral, as well as for the entire Archdiocese of Boston.
Ms. Korkos studies with acclaimed soprano Dana Varga.