American soprano Katie Dukes is an energetic and interactive performer, who rejects the idea that classical music has to be stuffy or boring. Active throughout the country, Katie has brought the world of opera to new audiences in productions with Opera Southwest, Reimagining Opera for Kids, and Intimate Opera of Indianapolis as well as in recent chamber performances with the Fiati Five wind quintet, the Kaemper Music Series, and Carrizozo Music.

Ms. Dukes’ past operatic and musical theater credits include Angelica in Suor Angelica, Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Beatrice Richman in The Three Fat Women of Antibes, Alida Slade in Roman Fever, Cercatrice 1 in Suor Angelica and Conversa 1 in Suor Angelica, Helen in the The Three Sisters who are not Sisters, the Baker’s Wife in Into the woods (Junior) and Mooch in Mooch the Magnificent. 

In addition to her work as a performer, Katie serves as the choral director of the Farolito Singers at the University of New Mexico, Music Prep School, an educational academy for young and emerging musicians. She is also the Executive Director of Studio Forza, a music and arts organization designed to unleash the power of creativity by bringing entertaining and fun classical music performances to people in an accessible way. Katie founded Studio Forza in 2012 because she believes if audiences are given the opportunity to hear something masterful in an innovative way in conjunction with a little bit of guidance, it will ignite a love for music. With Studio Forza, she performs, teaches, and organizes concerts, often with thematic food pairings, in a party-like atmosphere to welcome new audiences into the richness of the classical music world. 

Katie participated in summer training programs at the Tyrolean Opera Program in Maurach, Austria and La Musica Lirica International Festival in Novafeltria, Italy, and she holds degrees in vocal performance from the University of Northern Colorado and San José State University. Her teachers include Erie Mills, Andreas Poulimenos and Dr. Diane Bolden-Taylor.

She currently resides in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with her horn-playing husband Mike Walker and their opera-loving dogs Isolde and Jake.