Faculty Profile: Catherine Kasch
For Catherine (Cathy) Kasch, the most rewarding part of teaching isn't simply helping a student become a better singer. It's watching that student discover what they're capable of becoming.
"I love empowering every person to do their personal best," says Kasch, chair of the Voice Department at the University of Denver's Lamont School of Music & Theatre. "Sometimes, they don't end up in music. I'm thinking of a young baritone who ended up in real estate. But he says that every day, what he learned in the studio impacts the way he deals with people."
It's a philosophy that has shaped Kasch's teaching throughout her career and, over the past 27 years at Lamont, helped define the culture of its voice program.
Kasch's own path to a career in music began with a desire to be on stage. Growing up in Colorado after her family moved from St. Louis when she was in second grade, she became involved in theater in middle school. By high school, she knew she wanted to perform. When she auditioned for her school's production of Call Me Madam, she landed the lead role. Her choir teacher recognized her potential and encouraged her to pursue private voice lessons.
She began studying with Denver voice teacher Shirley White before enrolling at the University of Colorado Boulder, where she studied with renowned vocal pedagogue Dr. Barbara Doscher. She went on to earn her master's degree and Artist Certificate at Northwestern University.
After graduate school, Kasch built a busy performing career in the Chicago area. Her work included solo appearances with regional symphonies, regular performances for churches and synagogues, and recording projects for choral music publishers. She was also a regular soloist on the Chicago Sunday Evening Club, a non-denominational television program.
But alongside performing, Kasch always knew she wanted to teach.
Even while pursuing her performance career, she made time to observe Doscher's voice lessons whenever she could. The experience would have a lasting influence on her own approach to teaching. In fact, she still draws on Doscher's textbook, The Functional Unity of the Singing Voice, which she used with her students as recently as last year.
Eventually, family brought Kasch back to Colorado. With three children and her first husband's opera career taking off at Lyric Opera of Chicago, the family decided they needed to be closer to relatives. After moving to Denver, Kasch devoted time to raising her children while continuing to teach and helping her husband prepare vocally for his operatic roles.
An opportunity at CU Boulder came first, when a former classmate and faculty member, Dr. Patty Peterson, invited her to fill in during a sabbatical. Kasch loved the experience and subsequently joined the faculty as an adjunct instructor.
"It was a long drive, but I loved it!" she recalls.
Soon afterward, she met Ken Cox, then chair of Lamont's Voice Department, who offered her an adjunct position. The timing was right: Lamont was preparing to open its new home at the Newman Center for the Performing Arts, considerably closer to her family.
Kasch began teaching at Lamont in 1999. About a decade later, she and colleagues Sara Bardill and Kate Emmerich were offered teaching professor positions. In 2020, she became chair of the Voice Department.
Over the years, she has watched the program grow and evolve considerably.
"When I first started, we got a lot of in-state students. And frankly, the level was not what it is today, not anywhere near. Now we get many, many out-of-state and international students."
Today, she points to the strength of the faculty and coaching staff, the quality of the students, and the individualized attention they receive as defining characteristics of the program. Lamont students and alumni have gone on to perform on Broadway and London's West End, as well as with companies including the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Atlanta Opera, Central City Opera, Opera Colorado and many others.
"We're a very personalized program, and we have the quality," she says. "We have students out in major companies working."
For Kasch, however, the program's success isn't measured solely by where graduates perform. It's also reflected in the connections students make and the ways they use their talents beyond the stage.
That belief inspired her to establish Lamont Voices Making Impact, an initiative now in its fifth year that connects voice students with opportunities to give back to the community. Projects have included concerts at nursing homes, visits to Children's Hospital and, currently, a food drive. The initiative also brings alumni and current students together to celebrate the many ways Lamont graduates are making a difference.
Among those alumni are Dianela Costa, founder of Boulder Opera; Daniela Guzmán-Égüez and Lauren Lestage, who work in Central City Opera's outreach programs; and Alexandra Brickley, a music therapist in the neonatal intensive care unit at Children's Hospital.
The initiative reflects a broader conviction that a musician's impact can extend well beyond performance.
That same sense of connection is something Kasch believes prospective students recognize when they visit Lamont. Over nearly three decades, she's heard a particular response again and again when asking students why they chose the school: "I loved the way it felt."
"I think that is something that we're outstanding at. People need to be seen. And we have a faculty and a school that sees them. Each individual person," she says. "In the end, we're all just people trying to find a way to make a contribution."
It's an approach that begins even before a student enrolls. During auditions, Kasch says, faculty make a point of noticing each individual, talking with them and making sure they feel welcomed. For her, creating that environment is just as important as evaluating a student's musical abilities.
Looking ahead, Kasch is equally enthusiastic about the integration of music and theatre at Lamont, seeing tremendous potential in bringing the disciplines together.
"I think music and theatre is a no-brainer. They belong together," she says. "I'm excited for what's to come in these years. I view that as a huge power play for the university in positioning ourselves for the future."
She hopes the expanded school will create opportunities to serve more theatre students, including renewed growth in musical theatre and voice instruction for theatre majors. She also envisions Lamont becoming an even more prominent resource for the Denver community, reaching new audiences and introducing more children to the performing arts.
After 27 years at Lamont, Kasch remains energized by the possibilities ahead. But what continues to inspire her most is something that has been at the heart of her teaching from the beginning: helping people recognize their potential, find their voices and discover the many ways they can make an impact.
