Image by MICAH NITE
Amanda Kohl, lyric soprano, holds a Bachelor of Music (2006) and Artist Diploma (2011) from the Hartt School of Music and a Master’s of Music (2009) from Indiana University where she studied with acclaimed Metropolitan Opera Soprano, Carol Vaness. She has been seen on stages singing the role of Susanna in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro and Pamina in Die Zauberflöte with Connecticut Lyric Opera and some of her solo concert appearances include: Barbers Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with Contemporary Music Ensemble, Foot in the Door, Händels Messiah with the Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes and the Iliana Oratorio Society and Chorus, Bach’s Christum wir sollen loben schon and Considering Matthew Shephard with Chicago Choral Artists as well as Mozart’s Coronation Mass and Rutter’s Requiem with the Wellesley Masterworks Series. In Fall of 2022, Amanda was the Soprano soloist for Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Salt Creek Chamber Orchestra and Elmhurst Choral Union under the direction of Timothy Semanik and Soprano soloist for Paul Weber’s Magnificat with CCA and Chamber Orchestra.
A fierce advocate for New Music, Amanda has been featured on the PARMA recording label as a soloist on three albums: Polarities- in Katherine Saxon’s Vox Dilecti Mei, Pendulum- Wing Over Wing by Eric Nathan with Violinist Joseph Lin (formerly of the Juilliard String Quartet) and Window Panes in Three Rilke Lieder, composed by Elizabeth Austen. Her most recent new music project garnered a 1st place prize aside composer Shane Cook and collaborative pianist Florence Mak, in the fifth annual SongSLAM Chicago 2024, an Art Song initiative and competition hosted by Fourth Coast Ensemble. She is a longstanding member of Chicago Choral Artists and recently joined the rosters of St. Charles Singers, Camerata Chicago, Chicago A Capella and is a staff singer at Fourth Presbyterian Church in Downtown Chicago.
Equal to her passion for performing, Amanda carries an undeniable enthusiasm and integrity into her work as a Voice Teacher and Clinician. She was recognized for her accomplishments in the field in 2016 by the National Association of Teachers of Singing, and was awarded the 'Joan Frey Boytim Award for Independent Teachers.' Amanda has been invited as a guest clinician with various schools and ensembles in New England and in the Chicago area, including the Handel and Haydn Society’s Chorus of Tenors and Basses, and Chorus Angelicus. Previously, she was Adjunct Faculty at Connecticut College, was on the Voice Faculty at the Loomis Chaffee Boarding School in CT and has created Audition Prep Workshops for high school students seeking to continue their musical studies at the collegiate level.
Although Classically trained, Amanda feels equally at home working with students in Musical Theatre, Commercial and Popular styles of singing. Working with students of all ages and abilities at her home studio in Oak Park, at Lyriq Music School in North Center and more recently joining the staff at the Merit School of Music, she enjoys joining students on their journey to confident, healthy singing and teaching skills that are valuable both in and out of the studio.