Chilean-Spanish soprano based in the South-West of France, Katherine Arriola earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Musical Performance (Classical Voice) from Alberto Hurtado University in Santiago, Chile, and a Master’s Degree in Classical and Contemporary Music from the Conservatori Liceu in Barcelona.
Bridging musical heritage and contemporary creation, Katherine Arriola is a lyric coloratura soprano whose repertoire centres on Classical and Romantic works while also championing rediscovered and newly created works. Her artistic journey has led her to participate in repertoire revivals, world premieres, and first professional recordings, with a particular interest in bringing lesser-explored musical voices to audiences. From recital performances to the operatic stage, artistic curiosity and a close connection with audiences remain at the heart of her work.
Selected for the Teatro del Lago International Academy, she performed in the chorus of J. S. Bach’s St John Passion under the direction of Helmuth Rilling.
As a soloist, she has performed Antonio Vivaldi’s Gloria and Nulla in mondo pax sincera, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi’s Salve Regina and Stabat Mater, and George Frideric Handel’s Messiah. On the operatic stage, she has portrayed the Queen of the Night (The Magic Flute, Mozart), the Princess (L’Enfant et les Sortilèges, Ravel), and Frasquita (Carmen, Bizet) at the Barcelona Opera Studio of the Palau de la Música Catalana.
In 2022, she received the Study Scholarship for Latin American singers, awarded as part of the Concorso Lirico Internazionale SOI Scuola dell’Opera Italiana Fiorenza Cedolins.
She has taken part in masterclasses with María Dolors Aldea, Sebastián Ferrada, Gonzalo Simonetti, Christian Senn, Patrizia Ciofi, and Massimiliano Bullo, vocal coach at Teatro alla Scala in Milan.
Katherine Arriola has performed recital programmes of opera arias and art songs at venues including Palacio Rioja, the Monastery of Pedralbes, and the European Museum of Modern Art. She is currently developing her artistic career in France through a series of recitals with pianist Fabien Prou, several of which are presented by heliotrOPÉRA, the association she co-founded and now serves as President.
Alongside her performance career, she is deeply committed to contemporary creation and has premiered works by Chilean composers, including Manuel Bustamante and Tomás Brantmayer. In 2024, she recorded the album Canciones Australes: Two Centuries of Chilean Art Song in Barcelona with pianist Miguel Ángel Dionis, now available on major streaming platforms. This anthology combines the rediscovery of Chile’s musical heritage with world-premiere recordings, including the first professional recordings of Enrique Soro’s Due liriche, Leni Alexander’s Impressions, and works by Tomás Brantmayer, Manuel Bustamante, and Isidora Zegers, a pioneering figure in the history of classical singing in Chile.
Katherine Arriola 