Kara Dugan is an American mezzo-soprano born in 1992. She received her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School. Her repertoire ranges from Baroque oratorio to world premieres, and she has made debuts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, and Buffalo Philharmonic. Her work as a Baroque concert soloist began during her studies at The Juilliard School and has taken her on three international tours with Juilliard415 and conductors Ton Koopman, Masaaki Suzuki, and Nicholas McGegan, culminating in a performance as the soprano II soloist in Bach’s Mass in B minor at the Boston Early Music Festival. Operatic highlights include Cherubino in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, Zaida in Rossini’s Il Turco in Italia, and Nireno in Handel’s Giulio Cesare.

Dugan’s initiatives in new music include collaborations with the Albany Symphony, performing Michael Daugherty’s This Land Sings, a multi-genre tribute to Woody Guthrie, as well as a performance in a workshop of Ricky Ian Gordon’s Intimate Apparel with Lincoln Center Theater. As an inaugural member of WQXR’s Artist Propulsion Lab, she commissioned and performed the world premiere of In a New York Minute: Miniatures for Voice and Piano, a song cycle highlighting the voices and perspectives of women and everyday New Yorkers.