OPERA OMAHA WELCOMES KATRINA THURMAN AS NEW DIRECTOR OF ARTISTIC ADMINISTRATION

Opera Omaha is thrilled to announce Katrina Thurman as the new Director of Artistic Administration.

This new role at Opera Omaha will serve as the key liaison between artists, managers, Opera Omaha administration, and the Omaha community.

“As both a former young artist and guest artist with Opera Omaha, I have always been deeply impressed by the company’s stellar reputation as an innovative and well-respected arts organization. I’m thrilled to be working alongside Allison Swenson and the wonderful team at Opera Omaha as it moves toward its next phase of existence,” said Mrs. Thurman.

Thurman begins her new role with over 20 years’ experience in the field of opera as an arts administrator, producer, and performer. She started in the industry as an operatic soprano, yet her desire to give back to the opera community compelled her to work simultaneously in artistic administration.

Through her career, she has built a fine reputation performing traditional and contemporary operatic repertoire at theaters including The Metropolitan Opera, Carnegie Hall, Opera Omaha, Opera Philadelphia, Florida Grand Opera, The Glimmerglass Festival, Utah Opera, Tulsa Opera, Florentine Opera, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, The Dallas Opera, New York City Opera and venues throughout Europe. Her experience in advocacy of traditional and contemporary opera has allowed her to develop an informed voice and an extensive network of composers and performers.

She has spent the past 10 years with ADA Artist Management, first as Marketing and PR Manager and then as Director of Marketing and Community Engagement. This year, she aided in ADA’s merger with UIA Talent Agency, spearheading multiple projects during the transition as Director of Communications with UIA.

In 2019, Mrs. Thurman founded, and currently serves as the General and Artistic Director of, East Passyunk Opera Project (ePOP), a Philadelphia based organization committed to the expansion of community awareness and access to opera, musical theater, and art song. In 2021, she was nominated to run for Woman of the Year with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society for which she raised over $90,000 in 10 weeks’ time and was awarded the Mission Integration Award.

“Opera Omaha is thrilled to welcome Katrina Thurman Hawkey as Director of Artistic Administration,” said Opera Omaha’s General Director, Allison Swenson. “We are fortunate to benefit from her years of experience as a producer, administrator, and artist. She has a flawless record of collegiality, and her artistic sensibility will raise even higher the quality of our work.”