Praised as “a fine actress with a deep, spacious sound” [Parterre], American mezzo-soprano Kristin Gornstein brings her “rich-voiced mezzo-soprano” and “lines of an uncannily silky legato” [New York Times] to her work, ranging from the traditional to the edgy and imaginative. She performs baroque and contemporary works in equal measure, and was recently lauded for her portrayal of Piramo in Johan Hasse’s baroque gem Piramo e Tisbe with The Little Opera Theatre of New York, with Opera News calling her performance, “...masterful.  She sang the difficult role with a truly flawless lyric mezzo”. In October 2022 she enjoyed her Lincoln Center debut in the role of Wang Sheng in the China Now Music Festival’s production of Painted Skin, and most recently she has sung the title role in Dido and Aeneas with Opera Fort Collins, as well as Antonio in Hasse’s Antonio e Cleopatra with the Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado. Upcoming performances include the role of Shtumer Alef in the world premiere of Weiser/Kaplan’s The Great Dictionary of the Yiddish Language.

In previous seasons she has been praised for her portrayal of Ramiro in Mozart’s La finta giardiniera in a co-production by On Site Opera and Atlanta Opera, a role she reprised in at Caramoor. She performed in the ensemble of Michael Gordon and Deborah Artman’s groundbreaking opera Acquanetta, both in the world premiere through the Prototype Festival, and in its reprisal at the Bard Summerscape Festival. In addition, the past seasons have included several role debuts: Angelina in Rossini’s La cenerentola with Salt Marsh Opera, Lady-in-Waiting in Verdi’s Macbeth with Opera Company of Middlebury, and Paul in the world premiere of Kurt Vonnegut and Richard Clark’s Happy Birthday, Wanda June with Indianapolis Opera. The 2020-2021 season included a return to the Little Opera Theatre of New York for a digital release of scenes from Mozart’s Il Re Pastore.

Kristin’s work as an oratorio and concert soloist includes, most frequently, the alto solos in Handel’s Messiah, having performed it around the world over 20 times in her career. She won third place in the Lyndon Woodside Oratorio Competition at Carnegie Hall in 2018, and has since joined Sacred Music in a Sacred Space as alto soloist for Vivaldi’s Gloria, the NY Wind Symphony for de Meij’s 4th Symphony, Crescendo Baroque for Hasse’s oratorio Laudate Pueri, Sinfonietta Riverdale as Bessie in Weill’s Mahagonny Songspiel, and the American University of Beirut as the soprano II soloist in Mozart’s Mass in C Minor, among many other oratorio performances. Kristin toured with Mark Morris Dance Company’s acclaimed production of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas as an ensemble member, appeared at Lincoln Center with the New York Philharmonic for Honegger’s Jean D’Arc au Bûcher, and has made numerous appearances in recital at Caramoor. Kristin is a regular soloist with the Brooklyn Art Song Society, the Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado, and the St Martin’s Chamber Choir.

In 202o, Kristin established the duo Vertex with pianist Jeremy Chan, with whom she has enjoyed an active performing relationship since 2015. They have released two recordings; a self-produced EP Still, in 2020, followed by a full-length album entitled Joy, Too, with Navona Records in 2024. Vertex will premiere a group of songs by composer Tonia Ko in the New Voices Festival at Roulette with the Brooklyn Art Song Society in June 2025.

A frequent performer on the New York opera scene, Ms. Gornstein has appeared as Lucretia in Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia and  Rosina in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia with Loft Opera, as Mrs. Slender in Salieri’s Falstaff with Dell’Arte Opera, as Dulcinée in Massenet’s Don Quichotte with Utopia Opera, and as Romeo in I Capuleti e i Montecchi with Opera MODO. Never straying too far from the edgy and imaginative, she has appeared often with Heartbeat Opera; as Xantippe in Daphnis and Chloé, as featured soloist in Queens of the Night: Mozart in Space at Brooklyn’s National Sawdust, and as part of the first fully staged opera pastiche ever performed on Manhattan’s High Line. She debuted the role of Julie in Pulitzer Prize-nominated composer Alex Weiser’s opera State of the Jews, and has worked with Alex and librettist Ben Kaplan on several workshops of the same opera, as well as their latest project, The Great Yiddish Dictionary which will have its world premiere in the fall of 2025.

Ms. Gornstein was a Fellow with Tanglewood Music Center, where she was featured as soloist in Mackey’s Madrigal, and Bach’s Cantata 155 and as Federico Lorca in excerpts from Osvaldo Golijov’s opera Ainadamar. She sang performances of Carmen in Bizet/Brook’s La Tragédie de Carmen, Annina in Verdi’s La traviata and Pitti-Sing in Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado as a young artist with Indianapolis Opera, and she was also an apprentice with Bel Canto at Caramoor and New Jersey Opera. She attended the Opera College of Stockholm, through which she performed at the Royal Opera (Stockholm), premiering as the mezzo-soprano soloist in Carl Unander-Scharin’s Opera Mecatronica, and reprising that performance in Operadagen Rotterdam Festival’s production of Distant Voices. She holds a Master of Music in Voice Performance from the University of Colorado, where she sang the roles of Vixen Sharp-Ears in Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen, Maria in Bernstein’s West Side Story, and Kitty Hart in Heggie’s Dead Man Walking, and was soloist in Crumb’s Apparition. Kristin attended Butler University, earning a Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance. She credits her love of opera to the unique opportunity given to Butler voice students; singing in the professional chorus with Indianapolis Opera. In fact she made her professional solo debut there, singing the small role of Kaetchen in Massenet’s Werther. It is an experience she would recommend to any singer looking to learn about all that goes into making opera happen.