Katherine Haataja

Entrepreneur, mezzo soprano, opera professional and founder of the Operosa Montenegro Opera Festival and Academia, as well as coach and mentor in related education and career development. Katherine is passionate about opera, singing, the performing arts, the performing arts and education, about exploring diversity and discovering ways of bringing people closer to these art forms and cultural heritage.

Katherine founded the Operosa Opera Festival and Academia which promote young opera and classical music artists through contemporary interpretation to modern audiences. The Operosa Opera Festival takes place every summer in the Forte Mare, Kanli Kula and Mamula Island fortresses and in the Old Town of Herceg Novi, on the Adriatic coast of Montenegro. The Operosa Montenegro Opera Festival has been awarded the EFFE label, Europe’s quality stamp for remarkable arts festivals, since 2015 and celebrated its 10 year Jubilee edition in 2023.

Katherine studied singing at the Conservatoire Superieure de Paris and Trinity College of London, and vocal pedagogy at the Voice Study Centre and the University of Wales Trinity Saint David. Her work as a singer has ranged from Handel and Mozart to Wagner and Strauss in opera productions and recitals around the world. She teaches at master classes, gives private coaching in vocal pedagogy as well as career development, and contributes as speaker at various conferences and jury member at international singing competitions. She is also deeply involved in mentoring and consulting in the realms of higher education and career development, such as Momentum Mentoring at the University of Brighton. Katherine is a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (FRSA), a global network of changemakers enabling and uniting people and ideas.