Meridian grad finds success in opera

Mark Reimers
Tribune reporter

Katie Van Kooten

WHATCOM -- Katie Van Kooten has a job like any other person. She is reminded of that whenever she comes home for a visit.
  The job, however, is different.
  Van Kooten, a graduate of Meridian High School in 1997, is now self-employed and a rising star in the world of opera.
  “To my family, singing never seemed like a viable option,” Van Kooten said. “I remember my parents sat me down one day and said I needed to double-major.”
  That has changed now, but she still uses her family -- her parents are Ken and Sally Van Kooten -- and old home as a sounding-board to stay grounded, Van Kooten said.
  “We are a family of farmers and teachers,” she said. “ I love that about coming home -- they think of (opera singing) as just another job.”
  Van Kooten, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Biola University, traveled to London to study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama under voice teacher Rudolf Piernay.
  In 2004 she was selected out of several hundred applicants to join the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
  Within two months, however, she found herself in an hour-long audition with music director Antonio Pappano for the role of Magda in Puccini’s “La Rondine.” Pappano was looking for someone to cover the role for opera star Angela Georghiu.
  “I had no idea it was a big part until I went home and looked at my CD booklet,” Van Kooten said. “Then I realized it was the lead part.”
  Van Kooten was selected to sing the role and made her debut in the London theatre in November of that year.
  Van Kooten’s experience in London has continued up to last fall when she landed a role as Micaëla in “Carmen.” Now in New York, Van Kooten said she spends most of her time auditioning and waiting for her next role. Her schedule over the next year is already filled.
  “I won’t be in any one place more than two months,” she said. This could mean traveling to London, Houston, New York as well as Brazil.
  “I literally live by faith waiting for each phone call and auditioning constantly,” she said.
  Growing up in Whatcom County was an invaluable experience for Van Kooten, who spent time before college working at Maberry Packing.
  “It taught me the value of a dollar,” she said. “People know how to work hard.”
  Doing manual labor also served to motivate Van Kooten to find something she enjoyed and do it well.
  Watching other musicians work was a bit of a shock at first, as she discovered that many acted like the world owed them everything, she said.
  All Van Kooten has to do when she sees selfishness around her is remember how many of her friends and family think of her job. “The majority of the world doesn’t care a bit about what I’m doing,” she said.
  Van Kooten is not sure how long she wants to “live out of a suitcase.”
  “I’d like to settle down,” she said. “I don’t think singing is all there is to life.”
  For now, Van Kooten said, she believes she is doing what she was called to do. One teacher described the chain of events in the last few years this way: “You didn’t even knock and the doors opened.”
  “The Lord has blessed me with something unique,” Van Kooten said of her singing voice. “It seems clear He wants me here.”
  E-mail Mark Reimers at reporter@lyndentribune.com.