Dr. Mary Katherine Kelton, mezzo-soprano
Mary Katherine Kelton, mezzo-soprano, is Associate Professor of
Music at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana. Dr. Kelton
maintains an active and varied singing career, appearing frequently
as a soloist and recitalist in an eclectic range of music, from
chant to contemporary literature. Her solo work with the Santa Fe
Desert Chorale has received critical acclaim. She has appeared as
soloist with Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, the Dayton
Philharmonic Orchestra, the Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra, the
Nashville (Tennessee) Symphony, the Santa Fe Symphony, the
Springfield (Missouri) Symphony, the Southeast Kansas Symphony, the
Durango Symphony, and the Tuscaloosa Symphony, among others. Her
solo appearances at festivals include the Santa Fe Chamber Music
Festival, the Aspen Music Festival, the Banff Festival of the Arts,
the Victoria Bach Festival, and the Lake Placid International Vocal
Seminar. Early Music groups with whom she has appeared include the
Dayton Bach Society, Ensemble Ouabache, the Kansas Early Music
Consort, and the Texas Early Music Project.
Dr. Kelton received the Doctor of Musical Arts and the Master of
Music in Applied Voice from The University of Texas at Austin. She
also holds a B. M. in Applied Voice and a B. S. in Education, both
summa cum laude, from The University of Alabama, where she was
awarded that institution's highest student accolade, the John F.
Ramsey Award, for "outstanding scholarship, leadership, and broad
humanistic interests." In 1991 she was one of the first recipients
of a P. E. O. Scholar Award for dissertation research. She was
selected to participate in the National Association of Teachers of
Singing (NATS) Intern Program for young NATS teachers in 1993. She
has received many awards for her singing, including being a
two-time state winner of the NATS Artist Award auditions and a
two-time second place winner of the NATSAA regional auditions. In
1999 she won the Bel Canto Chorus (Milwaukee) Regional Artist
Competition. She was named a national semi-finalist in the 1995
National Federation of Music Clubs Young Artist Award Competition,
and in 1998, was the alternate for the voice finalist in the Mu Phi
Epsilon International Artist Competition. She was the winner of the
Young Artist Competition at the Salado (Texas) Festival in
1985.
A noted expert on the songs of American composer, Amy Beach, she
has presented many recitals of Mrs. Beach's music throughout the
United States and has had several articles published about Mrs.
Beach's contribution to American Song Literature. In 1999, Dr.
Kelton was the recipient of a Butler University Faculty Grant to
record a compact disc of songs by Mrs. Beach. Other recent
recordings include promotional materials for Hal Leonard and Lorenz
Publishers and a CD that accompanies Dr. James Briscoe's
Contemporary Anthology of Music by Women, published by Indiana
University Press.
Dr. Kelton currently serves as the President of the Indiana
Chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing. She
serves as the advisor to the Kappa Chapter of Mu Phi Epsilon and is
also an active member of Pi Kappa Lambda.
Prior to her appointment at Butler University in 1996, Dr.
Kelton held teaching positions at Pittsburg (Kansas) State
University and in the McAllen (Texas) Independent School District.
She has also taught on the faculty of the Berkshire Choral
Festival, Santa Fe, and has served as Diction Coach for the Santa
Fe Desert Chorale.
Dr. Kelton has furthered her interest in German language,
literature, and culture through studies at Goethe-Institutes in
Berlin, Munich, and Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany, funded in
part through grants she received from the German Academic Exchange
Service and Butler University. From January-August 2003, she will
be teaching and doing research at the Hochschule für Musik und
Theater in Hannover, Germany and will present several recitals of
American Music.
(317) 940-9217
kkelton@butler.edu