My name is Katherine Parker. I’m a professor, performer, and stage director.
I’m currently available for guest masterclass engagements and performances
I am the vocal coordinator, classical voice advisor, and lecturer of voice at University of Nevada, Reno, School of Music. I’m also artistic director of Nevada Opera Theatre.
I hold a MM vocal pedagogy from the Boston Conservatory at Berklee and will graduate with my DMA in voice performance in spring 2025.
My research and teaching focuses on developing best practices and learning benchmarks for voice education curricula that prepare singers for a 21st century performing arts career.
Excellence in teaching
Measurable student success
Prior to my appointment at UNR, I was on the musical theatre voice faculty at Berklee and also taught voice at Salem State University, Phillips Academy of Andover, and Walnut Hill School for the Arts concurrently from 2018 to 2020. I have been a clinician and masterclass presenter with the National Association Teachers of Singing, Classical Singer Magazine, Music National Teachers Association, Massachusetts and Nevada Music Educators Association, as well as MIT, Brown University, and Harvard University. I was nominated for the University of Nevada Reno Paul and Judy Bible Teaching Excellence Award, one of the most prestigious faculty awards in 2022.
My current and former students have won or placed at the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, HGO Eleanor McCollum Competition, NATS Boston and Cal-West, NATS National Finals, The Jimmy Awards, Hal Leonard Voice Competition, The Voice, American Idol, and can be seen performing with The Boston Pops, National Broadway Tours (currently: Pretty Woman, Mrs. Doubtfire) and regional theatres across the United States. They have been accepted into young artist programs including Boston University Opera Institute, Merola, AIMS, and Opera Seme.
Embodied voice science
I’ve presented my research on biomechanics and the voice and taught yoga for singers at Boston Conservatory at Berklee Vocal Pedagogy Professional Workshop, Las Vegas Arts Academy, and was inaugural faculty at Cincinnati Conservatory of Music: The Stilson Institute. In fall 2023 I developed a partnership between the University of Nevada, Reno School of Music and Summit Voice and Swallowing to offer free vocal scoping to voice students and a provide a vocal health symposium.
I hold my RYS 200 yoga teacher certification. I deeply believe in the importance of mindfulness and balancing the nervous system to support whole body singing and incorporate these methods in my teaching.
Inclusion and innovation in performance
I love exploring new works or styles outside the Western canon as a singer and educator. I have premiered works with Los Angeles VoiceScienceWorks N.E.O. voice festival, the International Clarinetfest, and Boston New Music Opera Initiative.
I was the recipient of the 2017 Bedford Education Grant to fund my research at the Dagbe Cultural Arts Centre in Kopeyia, Ghana where I studied drumming and dance from 2017-2019.