Karen Beacom

• Regional Finalist - Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions
• First Place Winner - Classical Singer Competition, Emerging Singer
• Full Tuition Scholarship/Graduate Assistantship - University of Nebraska-Lincoln

KAREN (HUGHES) BEACOM, Soprano

With a voice and stage presence described as “warm and lyrical with a lot of dramatic power,” by the Omaha World Herald, soprano Karen Hughes Beacom has made a name for herself on the opera and concert stage at home and abroad. A Metropolitan Opera National Council Regional Finalist and four time district winner, her career has crossed borders, with international performances at the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing, China as the soprano soloist in Bach’s Mass in B Minor with the Tianjin Symphony and as the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro in Novafeltria, Bellaria an Sant’Archangelo, Italy.

Karen performs regularly in concert and recital, including Sault Symphony in Ontario, Canada, with solo appearances in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, Handel’s Messiah, Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Orff’s Carmina Burana. Karen performed in Violins of Hope performing the soprano solos in Mozart’s Requiem with Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra in 2019 and the Mozart Requiem and Vivaldi Gloria with the Keewenaw Symphony that December.

This versatile soprano has performed over a dozen leading roles in opera, most recently Violetta in La Traviata, Cio-Cio San in Madama Butterfly, Mimi in La Boheme, Fiordiligi in Cosí fan tutte, Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus, Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Pamina in The Magic Flute, Alexandra in the premiere of O Pioneers!, and Micaela in Carmen, among others. Her opera credits include Des Moines Metro Opera, Utah Festival Opera, Opera Omaha, Sun Valley Opera, DuPage Opera Theatre, Chautauqua Institution and as resident artist for Soo Opera. Karen is principal harpist for the Sault Symphony Orchestra and has played with Marquette Symphony, Traverse Symphony Orchestra, Keewenaw Symphony, Gaylord Chamber Symphony, Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra, Terre Haute Symphony and more. Karen is also an active recitalist and concert performer, returning annually to the Mackinac Arts Council Classical Music Series on Mackinac Island, MI and the Hastings Arts Center in Hastings, MN.

Karen holds a Master’s Degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where she studied under Metropolitan Opera Mezzo-Soprano Ariel Bybee. A student of Bybee’s in New York City, where she attended the American Musical and Dramatic Academy, Karen subsequently followed her mentor and teacher to earn her degree in the field of opera. Karen also holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Harp Performance from DePauw University.

In addition to performing, Karen is the founder and artistic director of the Soo Opera in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. Founded in 2007 as a part of the Soo Theatre Project, Soo Opera has brought fully staged works with orchestra to the Eastern Upper Peninsula for over a decade, including annual performances at the Grand Hotel and Mission Point Center for the Arts Mackinac Island.

When not on stage or directing, Karen serves as the Director of Music at Little Stone Church on Mackinac Island, Artistic Director for the Soo Theatre Project, Inc., and Director of the Soo Youth Theatre program.