Dr. Katrina Zook

Dr. Katrina Zook is a passionate and dedicated voice builder.  Her students have trained in pre-professional programs and sung with companies in the US and abroad including Oberlin in Italy, Opera NEO (San Diego), Boston Opera, Boulder Opera, Buxton Opera (England), Regina Opera (New York), Apollo Opera Theatre of Syros (Greece), Ópera Teatro Sãn Pedro (Brazil), Festival Amazones de Ópera (Brazil), Opera Iowa, Des Moines Metro Opera, Pensacola Opera, and Opera San José. Others have sung lead roles in Broadway national touring productions and have earned first place awards including the Bidu Sayão International Voice Competition in Brazil.

Dr. Zook was awarded the prestigious UW Seibold Professorship, a year-long sabbatical which afforded opportunity to pursue concentrated studies in vocal anatomy and physiology, vocal acoustics, and Vocology. Her interest in voice science was further supported through a competitive College of Arts and Sciences Interdisciplinary Seed Grant which led to founding the UW Vocology Laboratory, now housed in the Buchanan Center for the Performing Arts. Along with colleagues Dr. Holly Dalrymple (Choral Music Education) and Dr. David L. Jones (Communication Disorders and Interim Dean of the College of Health Sciences), Dr. Zook conducts voice assessments and research studies on myriad issues related to the science of the singing voice.

As a lyric mezzo-soprano, her operatic performance credits include leading roles in Hansel and Gretel, Così fan Tutte, Carmen, Albert Herring, Falstaff, Le Nozze di Figaro, The Old Maid and the Thief, Dialogues of the Carmelites, and Amahl and the Night Visitors. She performed three seasons with the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival and was a featured soloist with the Singing Men of Ohio during tour appearances in Virginia, Indiana, and Washington, D.C. Having a keen interest in contemporary music, she has premiered works for the Prisms New Music Ensemble, the Los Angeles Composer's Forum, the International Computer Music Society, and New Frontiers: Laramie Contemporary Music Project. Dr. Zook has given guest artist recitals in Ohio, Virginia, New York, Colorado, South Dakota, south-central Brazil, and The Netherlands. Recent performances include collaborations with the UW Symphony Orchestra, UW Chamber Orchestra, UW Wind Symphony, Wyoming Jazz Ensemble, Cheyenne Symphony, Wyoming Symphony, Cheyenne Chamber Singers, Voices West, and the Larimer Chorale.

Dr. Zook earned the Doctorate of Musical Arts degree in Vocal Performance and Literature from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, where she was also awarded the Performer's Certificate in Voice. She holds the Bachelor's degree in Vocal Performance from the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music in Oberlin, Ohio, and the Master of Arts degree in Vocal Performance from the University of California-Santa Barbara. Zook also advanced to Ph.D. candidacy in historical musicology at UCSB where her primary research interest was 16th century Dutch Mennonite hymnody. At UW, Dr. Zook teaches Studio Voice, Vocal Pedagogy, Freshman Voice Studio, Historical Perspectives II, and Music in the Classical Period. UW teaching recognition includes the Ellbogen Meritorious Classroom Teaching Award, Top Prof Award, Extraordinary Merit in Teaching Award, and two PIE Awards (Promoting Intellectual Engagement in the Classroom). She is the faculty advisor for SNATS (Student Chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing). Dr. Zook is currently Associate Chair for the Department of Music and serves as Graduate Studies Coordinator.