Mezzo Soprano Soloist for CLSO Beethoven’s 9th Symphony
Soprano Karisa L. Templeton is an active performer of opera and art song enthusiast. Heralded for her “warm, silvery tone,” she has sung with Fargo-Moorhead Opera, Opera on the Avalon, The Princeton Opera Festival, New Voices Opera, Reimagining Opera for Kids, and the Beijing Festival Chorus. Her stage credits include Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Britten), Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare (Handel), Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni (Mozart), Sifare in Mitridate (Mozart), Queen in The True Story of Cinderella (Martin), Dido in Dido and Aeneas (Purcell), and Laurie in The Tender Land (Copland).
A native Ohioan, Templeton moved to Fargo in 2020 to join the voice faculty at North Dakota State University where she teaches voice, pedagogy, and vocal literature and is an advocate for discovering and performing works of historically underrepresented composers. She also serves on the board for the ND chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing. Templeton holds degrees in music education (Cedarville University), voice pedagogy (Westminster Choir College), and voice performance (Indiana University). She previously taught at Wabash College of Indiana, The University of Evansville, and Beijing National Day School.
