Tracy Marie Koch, soprano

Biography

Tracy Marie Koch, spinto soprano, has been hailed as possessing a “beautiful, penetrating dramatic sound with exceptional beauty”.  Ms. Koch was recently heard as Santuzza in Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana with the Midwest Institute of Opera in Bloomington, Illinois, where she also performed title roles of Puccini’s Suor Angelica (2014) and Verdi’s Aïda (2013).  In 2014, she was invited by the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s opera guild to perform a recital that showcased arias and duets from their 2014-2015 season.  Ms. Koch’s other recent engagements include Vì in Gershwin’s Blue Monday with Marble City Opera and as featured soloist at The Music by the Lake Festival where she performed scenes from Aïda and Puccini’s La bohème. Ms. Koch made her international debut as soprano soloist in Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Cairo Choral Society in Egypt and her New York City debut as the title role in Madama Butterfly with Martina Arroyo’s Prelude to Performance Program after making her Chicago Opera Theater debut in Britten's Death in Venice.  She participated in the Opera Santa Barbara Young Artist program performing as Desdemona in Verdi’s Otello and Alice Ford in Verdi’s Falstaff.  Ms. Koch was a winner of the 2003 Bel Canto Foundation of Chicago. She made her recording debut as soprano soloist on David Maslanka’s world premiere of A Carl Sandburg Reader released by Albany Records in November 2009. She has also performed the roles of Mimì in La bohème (Music by the Lake Festival) and in the title role of Tosca with the New York Summer Opera Scenes.   Upcoming performances include singing with the Palouse Choral Society in Washington as soprano soloist in Mozart’s Requiem, and as featured soloist with the Illinois State University Civic Chorale.  Ms. Koch’s talents extend far beyond the stage.  Her directing style has been described as “imaginative, fresh and intriguing”.  Ms. Koch uses her extensive background as a singer, actress and dancer to bring new perspectives to the opera genre.  She is currently staff director for the Midwest Institute of Opera where she has directed shows for the last 6 seasons.  She will be joining the staff at the Resonanz Opera in Cleveland, Ohio in 2017 as the director of Ravel’s The bewitched child and Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites.  Ms. Koch is the artistic director, founder and director of the MIO Children’s Chorus Show Choir and the dynamic all girl’s a cappella group “Beauties and the Beat”.  She is also the owner and teacher of the thriving Koch Private Studio of Voice and Piano in Bloomington, Illinois.  Ms. Koch earned her M.M. in Vocal Performance and Literature from Northwestern University and a B.M. in Vocal Performance from Illinois State University.