BIOGRAPHY
Katie Colleen Hickey, soprano, whose voice “electrified…with operatic ecstasy (Ken Herman, San Diego Story), began her professional career in Washington DC, singing with some of the finest choirs and conductors in the city. She performed regularly with The Woodley Ensemble, Chantry, and the Master Chorale of Washington. Katie has performed in some of the world’s most prestigious venues, including the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (DC), the Washington National Cathedral, St. Giles Cathedral (Scotland), Seoul National Theatre (Korea), Copley Hall (San Diego), Cadogan Hall (London), Smetana Hall (Prague), and Eglise de la Madeleine (Paris), as well as at the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod (Wales).
Since moving to San Diego in 2011, Katie has been sought after as a soloist and choral musician regularly performing with the Bach Collegium of San Diego, San Diego Pro Arte Voices, and SACRA/PROFANA. Recent solo appearances include Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s Magnificat, Rutter’s Magnificat, Saint Saën’s Christmas Oratorio, Brahms’ Requiem, and Haydn’s Missa in Angustiis (“Lord Nelson Mass”) with the Village Community Chorale, Handel’s Messiah and Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms with the La Jolla Symphony & Chorus, and Faure’s Requiem with the Escondido Center for the Arts Center Chorale, as well as for the 10th Anniversary Memorial Concert honoring those lost on September 11, 2001, at St. Paul’s Cathedral. Katie Colleen Hickey is a member of the Berwick Chorus of the Oregon Bach Festival and Chorosynthesis.
Katie holds a bachelor's degree in Music Industry from James Madison University (VA), and a Masters in Arts Administration and Cultural Policy from Goldsmiths College, University of London. Katie is the Artistic Personnel and Production Manager for the San Diego Master Chorale. She is the Founding Executive Director of the San Diego Summer Choral Festival and San Diego Pro Arte Voices, founding board member of the Choral Consortium of San Diego, and consults with numerous arts organizations and nonprofits in Southern California. She is the soprano soloist and section leader at the Village Community Presbyterian Church in Rancho Santa Fe. Katie also expands her vocal abilities through voice acting and voice over.
PRAISE
San Diego Story, Ken Herman
Soprano Katie [Hickey] channeled the ardor of Billie Holiday—who was represented on this program with a haunting arrangement of her song “Strange Fruit”—in her mesmerizing opening solo of “Sympathy,” a telling, poignant setting by Scot Hanna Weir and Bruno Ruviar of that unforgettable Paul Lawrence Dunbar poem “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.”
The mid-range strength of Katie [Hickey] soprano complemented Paulino perfectly, and whenever the two sopranos sang together, their voices electrified the sanctuary of St. Andrews-by-the-Sea Episcopal Church with operatic ecstasy.
Among these soloists allow me to shout out the soprano section, Courtney Curtis, Anne-Marie Dicce, and Katie [Hickey], for their beautifully balanced, animated trios in the Schelle.
The singers—sopranos Jennifer Paulino and Katie [Hickey], counter-tenor Erick Rarick, with Russell as tenor and Walders as bass—projected a clean, intense austerity appropriate to this penitential music.
San Diego Reader, Garrett Harris
Katie Hickey is the Co-Founder of the San Diego Pro Arte Voices, featured in the San Diego Reader article titled No better musical experience of its kind in the world (!), highlighting “These organizations produce music I consider to be in the regional, national, and even world class. These six organizations are consistently the best at what they do in San Diego County.”
