Catheryne Shuman, a native of Fishers, Indiana, has been praised as "an elegant, vocally gifted artist in the manner of a young Kiri Te Kanawa or Renée Fleming" (ConcertoNet.com) with "a striking instrument" (Cleveland Plain Dealer).  A member of Chicago Opera Theater's Young Artists Program and Roosevelt University Chicago College of Performing Arts' Professional Diploma in Opera program, she performs in Chicago and the surrounding areas.  Ms. Shuman studies with Judith Haddon at Roosevelt University CCPA.  In the summer of 2011, she was a featured performer with the Ohio Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Domenico Boyagian and appeared in concerts in the Marche region of Italy as a part of the summer program Musica nelle Marche.

Ms. Shuman received her Master of Music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with Clifford Billions.  At CIM, she performed the title role of Ariadne auf Naxos (2010) in additon to Arminda in Mozart's La finta giardiniera (2011), for which she was praised as "in turn commanding, coquettish and cunning...[her] huge voice, which could have easily filled a house three times the size of Kulas Hall, possesses crystalline clarity in the upper register, a lovely rounded tone in the middle and a well-supported, full lower range" (ConcertoNet.com).  In 2009, she also sang La Badessa in Suor Angelica in CIM’s production and performed as Agathe in Act II, scene 1 of Der Freischütz in the Fall Opera Gala.  In addition, Ms. Shuman performed many scenes during her time at the Institute and was honored to perform in master classes with Warren Jones, George Darden, Vinson Cole and Harry Davidson. 

In 2010, she was awarded the prestigious Irvin Bushman Memorial Vocal Prize at CIM for outstanding vocal artistry as well as the Bellini and Audience Choice Awards in the Student category of the Orpheus Competition hosted by the Middle Tennessee State Choral Society.  She competed in the Orpheus Competition again in 2011 as a Young Artist and was the youngest competitor to advance to the finals, where she won the Mozart Award.

Prior to her studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Ms. Shuman attended DePauw University where she studied with Caroline Smith and Dawn Harris.  At DePauw University, Ms. Shuman sang the role of Mama Geno in P.D.Q. Bach's The Abduction of Figaro and performed in a master class with Jake Heggie.  She also spent a semester in Vienna, Austria studying with Paulette Herbich, and performed in several recitals and in the chorus of Le nozze di Figaro at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst.  

In addition to opera, Ms. Shuman has studied the German language extensively and is currently working toward fluency in Italian and French.  An up-and-coming artist, Ms. Shuman will be performing Erste Dame in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte with Roosevelt University in March and Rita in Shostakovich's Moscow, Cheryomushki with Chicago Opera Theater in April, where she will also be covering the role of Lusya.  For more information on Ms. Shuman's upcoming performances, click here.