Mezzo-Soprano
About Kimberly
Kimberly Milburn (she/her) is an American mezzo-soprano who is beginning to make her mark on the New York opera scene. A trained actress with a lyric-dramatic instrument, she is at home in a wide variety of repertoire. In August, she joined the Amore Opera for a scenes concert, where she played Cornelia, Dritte Dame, and Nicklausse. She also presented a full recital at Gravely Hall Performing Arts Center with collaborative pianist Melinda Morgan. The program included Manuel Ponce-arranged Mexican folk songs, selections from Carmen, Gretchen am Spinnrade and popular lieder, and Broadway and cabaret tunes. In the spring, she made her role and company debut with the Amore Opera as Suzuki in Madama Butterfly under the baton of Elizabeth Hastings in a revival production by Tami Swartz and Adam CJ Klein. The opera was performed with Mr. Klein and Frances Swartz's revised libretto. Last fall, she returned to the Ridgewood Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Co., revisiting the role of Leila in Iolanthe and covering the title role in a preview concert. Upcoming includes Lucretia in a scene from The Rape of Lucretia for Opera Atlantic's inaugural season scenes performance and the Knusperhexe (performing cover) in Hänsel und Gretel, along with Augusta Tabor, Mistress Quickly, and Susanna Walcott in a scenes showcase, all with Music On Site. More will be announced soon.
At the start of the 2023-24 season, she was scheduled to perform the title role in Carmen outdoors with the No Strings Theatre (Toronto) but withdrew before the rehearsal period began due to illness. The following spring and summer, she portrayed Second Witch in Dido and Aeneas with the Ridgewood Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Co. (c. Rider R. Foster), and she sang Adalgisa in a scene from Norma with the Asian American Music Society for their Kennedy Center emerging artist intensive. She also performed for masterclasses with Kathleen McKellar Ferguson, Joanie Brittingham, Rick Davis, and Kyle Pfortmiller at the REACH and at the Classical Singer convention in Washington, D.C.
She began 2022-23 with the dell'Arte Opera Ensemble in both the earliest and newest of operas, appearing as Ericlea and covering the soprano role of Giunone for rehearsals in Monteverdi's Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, covering the dramatic mezzo role of Sor Rafaela for the East Coast premiere of Carla Lucero and Alicia Gaspar de Alba's Juana, and singing Carmen excerpts in concert. After completing her first fall audition season, she was invited to a fully-funded international intensive and was a soloist in concert at the REACH at Kennedy Center with the Asian American Music Society, where she also played Zita in a scene from Gianni Schicchi. In February, she made her Symphony Space debut with the Village Light Opera as Leila in lolanthe. In May, she returned to the Bronx Opera's outreach program to portray Mère Marie in Poulenc's 20th century masterpiece, Dialogues of the Carmelites. Over the past few seasons, she was also in opera and Broadway concerts in New York and Washington, D.C., singing Dorabella, Nicklausse, Carmen, Lyubasha, Komponist, Augusta Tabor, and Lilli Vanessi.
Kimberly was born in Busan, Korea and grew up in the American South. Her first engagements were on the concert stage as soloist in Vaughan Williams' Serenade to Music, Bach's Easter Cantata "Der Himmel Lacht" (both with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra), and Chailley's Suite du XVe Siècle. She made her operatic debut in 2019 as Dritte Dame in Die Zauberflöte at Weill Recital Hall (d. Myra Cordell). She was then cast as Ludmila in The Bartered Bride (canceled due to the pandemic) with the Bronx Opera’s outreach program.
In the fall of 2021, she joined the voice studio of Michael Paul. She began taking acting classes at the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute and subsequently enrolled in a full year of drama school at HB Studio. Her educational background also includes piano with teachers including Juilliard pianist David Cooper, and she was a scholarship student of Steinway artist Victor Asuncion. She speaks some French and Italian and is learning to speak German at the Goethe Institut. Offstage, Kimberly is interested in food and wine, travel, current events, and fitness classes. She currently lives in New York City.
Contact her here, or find her on ig/yt @kimbermusik
