— William S. Oser, Talkin’ Broadway
As a child from a military family, I was raised in a multitude of locales, including Germany & the Eastern US, where my love of opera blossomed at an early age. I studied at the Purchase College Conservatory of Music, where I performed a number of principal roles including the Königin der Nacht (Die Zauberflőte), Adele (Die Fledermaus), Hanna in The Merry Widow, as well as the Dew Fairy in their award-winning adaptation of Hansel and Gretel. I also trained at Renata Scotto’s summer academy, where I studied bel canto repertoire with Ms. Scotto. This was followed by a trip to Italy in 2007 to perform in Lucca, Barga, and Castelnuovo di Garfagnana in a series of operatic recitals featuring repertoire by Verdi, Puccini, and Donizetti. In 2008 saw her debut with the Altamura/Caruso International Opera Festival, where I both placed as a finalist and portrayed Valencienne in their adaptation of The Merry Widow, under the baton of famed conductor Maestro Anton Coppola.
My New York City debut came in 2010 as Erste Dame in Die Zauberflöte, with The Martina Arroyo Foundation Prelude to Performance. I apprenticed with Bel Canto at Caramoor, where I sang in their opening night performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and was featured as a soloist in Caramoor’s Bel Canto at Caramoor Young Artist concerts. I became a familiar face in New York’s opera scene, frequently collaborating with both New Rochelle Opera and Underworld Opera. For New Rochelle Opera I bowed as Adele in Die Fledermaus (2011) and appeared frequently in concert, singing excerpts as Gilda (Rigoletto), Musetta (La Boheme), Cunegonde (Candide), and Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier). I debuted with Underworld Opera in 2013 as Riccardo in the rarely-seen Scarlatti opera Il trionfo dell’onore, and returned the next year as Dinah in Trouble in Tahiti at Symphony Space.
In February 2018, I made my house debut to critical acclaim with St. Petersburg opera as the formidable Königin der Nacht in Die Zauberflöte, which was also my first opera role as a young freshman at SUNY Purchase. In June of the same year, I made my role debut as Musetta with New Rochelle Opera in La Boheme. I returned to both companies in 2019, performing my role debut of Violetta in La Traviata with New Rcohelle, followed by a return to St Petersburg as the title role in The Merry Widow. I have also had the honor of creating the role of the District Attorney in the world premiere of Anthony Davis’ Five, based on the 1989 Central Park Five rape case and the miscarriage of justice that followed, as well as being featured in a PBS documentary chronicling Five’s creation and its premiere.
I have also had the joy of many musical theatre performances, with one of my favorites being as the Lady of the Lake in Curtain Call Theatre’s Spamalot.
I continue my vocal studies with Metropolitan Opera mezzo-soprano Shirley Love and the acclaimed Canadian soprano Susan Eichhorn Young.
“Kelli Butler adds a critical leg to the casting as the queen, culminating in a jaw-dropping coloratura performance of one of the most difficult arias ever written, Der Holle Rache (The Revenge of Hell).”
“Ms. Butler is young and glamorous, lovely to look at and equally so to hear. During “Vilja” I was guilty of closing my eyes for some moments, better to enjoy the beauty of the top of her voice.”
“Kelli Butler as The Queen of the Night nails all of the insanely high, high notes (4 F’s above high C) and lets face it, this role is about those notes. Both of her arias are strongly sung...”
| Verdi | Violetta | La Traviata |
| Mozart | Queen of the Night | Die Zauberflöte |
| Puccini | Musetta | La bohème |
| Léhar | Hanna Glawari | The Merry Widow |
| Bernstein | Dinah | Trouble in Tahiti |
| Du Prez/Idle/Innes | Lady of the Lake | Spamalot |
| Scarlatti | Riccardo | Il trionfo dell’onore |
| J. Strauss II | Adele | Die Fledermaus |
| Davis | District Attorney | FIVE (role creation, world premiere) |
| Mozart | First Lady | Die Zauberflöte |
| Léhar | Valencienne | The Merry Widow |
For full résumé, concert repertoire, & press packet, please request via the contact form.
| Bellini | Giulietta | I Capuleti e i Montecchi |
| Bellini | Amina, Lisa | La sonnambula |
| Berg | Lulu | Lulu |
| Bernstein | Cunegonde | Candide |
| Britten | Tytania | A Midsummer Night’s Dream |
| Delibes | Lakmé | Lakmé |
| Donizetti | Adina, Gianetta | L’Elisir d’amore |
| Donizetti | Marie | La fille du Régiment |
| Donizetti | Lucia | Lucia di Lammermoor |
| Gilbert & Sullivan | Josephine | HMS Pinafore |
| Gilbert & Sullivan | Mabel | The Pirates of Penzance |
| Handel | Cleopatra | Giulio Cesare in Egitto |
| Handel | Semele | Semele |
| Monteverdi | Poppea | L’incoronazione di Poppea |
| Moore | Baby Doe | The Ballad of Baby Doe |
| Mozart | Konstanze | Die Entführung aus dem Serail |
| Mozart | Madame Herz | The Impresario |
| Mozart | Madame Silberklang | The Impresario |
| Offenbach | Olympia | Les contes d’Hoffmann |
| Poulenc | Soeur Constance | Dialogues of the Carmelites |
| Rossini | Rosina | Il barbiere di Siviglia |
| Rossini | Amenaide | Tancredi |
| Rossini | Fiorilla | Il turco in Italia |
| R. Strauss | Zerbinetta, Najade | Ariadne auf Naxos |
| Verdi | Oscar | Un ballo in maschera |
| Verdi | Gilda | Rigoletto |
I’m ready for the show! Are you ready for me to take the stage in your next virtual opera, musical or stage performance?
I’m known across the internet as the OperaGeek because of my involvement in video games, the tabletop roleplaying communities and voice over work.
For professional operatic & concert engagements, please use the contact form to the right!
For appearances as the OperaGeek at Conventions, LiveStreams and other nerd related content, please go here →
