Kathryn Day

Kathryn Day (née Bouleyn) is an American opera singer who has had an active international career spanning five decades. She began her career as a leading soprano under the name Kathryn Bouleyn in the 1970s and 1980s with companies like the New York City Opera, the San Francisco Opera, and the Opera Theater of Saint Louis. With the latter institution she created the role of Cora in the world premiere of Stephen Paulus' The Postman Always Rings Twice (1982).

In the 1990s Day transitioned to leading mezzo-soprano roles with the aid of companies like the Seattle Opera and the Opéra de Montréal. In 2003 she portrayed Jeanne Loiuse de Pontalba in the world premiere of Thea Musgrave's Pontalba at the New Orleans Opera. She has been a regular presence at the Metropolitan Opera in mainly comprimario roles since 2005. She has appeared on several broadcasts of the Metropolitan Opera Live in HD. She has sometimes been billed as Kathryn Bouleyn Day.

Born in Philadelphia, Day studied at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University and at the Curtis Institute of Music where she was a pupil of Margaret Harshaw. She placed third in the finals of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 1973, which led to her debut performance at the Metropolitan Opera House on March 25, 1973 singing "Come scoglio" from Così fan tutte and "Song to the Moon" from Rusalka. She made her professional opera debut in 1972 with the Pennsylvania Opera Company as Violetta in La traviata. That same year she was the soprano soloist in Verdi's Requiem with the Mendelssohn Club. In 1973 she portrayed Mimi in La bohème and Violetta with the Little Lyric Opera Company in Philadelphia. In 1974 she made her debut with the Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company as Nella in Gianni Schicchi.