Katharina was raised in a tightly-knit Mennonite community in Alberta, Canada where singing and particularly choral singing was part of every occasion.  After completing a Bachelor of Music degree at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Katharina attended the opera course for two years at the International Mozarteum Summer Academy in Salzburg, Austria and began to make her living as a singer, performing roles with the Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg and Vancouver Opera Companies.  She was then chosen as one of eight singers from across Canada to join the young artists’ programme with the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto.  There she sang principal roles on the main stage and in touring productions.  She also appeared with the Chicago and Toronto Symphony Orchestras and sang the role of Carmen in Peter Brook’s version of Bizet’s opera on Broadway.

After ten years as a performer, Katharina came to the UK and ultimately to Cambridge University where she read History and Political Thought.   As a student, she founded a choir at Lucy Cavendish College and after graduation began teaching singing at St John’s College School while developing her own private teaching practice.  In addition to coaching individual singers, Katharina has adjudicated singing classes for the Cambridge Young Musician of the Year Awards, conducted vocal workshops and directed community choirs.  In 2008 she founded the Lucy Cavendish Singers of which she is the director.