Biography

Katey Rylands is a Wiltshire-born mezzo-soprano whose recent highlights include joining Garsington Opera as a 2026 Alvarez Emerging Artist, covering the role of Annina in Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier and performing in the chorus for Verdi's La traviata. She returns to English National Opera this autumn for Gluck's Iphigénie en Tauride, continuing to establish herself as an exciting young artist on the UK opera scene.

Growing up in the South West of England, Katey was a member of the South West Music School, where her musical development and love of singing were nurtured from an early age. In 2015, she was awarded a scholarship to Wells Cathedral School as a specialist musician while completing her A levels. Her time at Wells laid the foundations for her subsequent studies at the Royal Academy of Music.

Katey graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in 2023, where she completed both a Bachelor of Music and a Master of Arts. She studied with Yvonne Howard, Alex Ashworth and Giles Underwood, and was coached by Chad Vindin. During her time at the Academy, she was awarded the Isabel Jay Memorial Prize for her performance of Charlotte’s aria “Va ! laisse couler mes larmes” from Massenet’s Werther. Her studies were generously supported by Sophie’s Silver Lining Fund, the Opera Awards Foundation, Wiltshire Rural Music, the St Marylebone Educational Foundation and the Kathleen Trust.

Alongside her operatic work, Katey is an accomplished recitalist and concert performer. She has appeared as a soloist in oratorio performances across the UK, including engagements in Penzance, Peterborough Cathedral and Chichester Cathedral. Support from the Josephine Baker Trust has enabled her to maintain strong relationships with choral societies, and she continues to enjoy performing the richness and variety of the oratorio repertoire.

Since graduating, Katey has worked with a number of leading UK opera companies, including Garsington Opera, Opera Holland Park, Gothic Opera, West Green House Opera, HGO, If Opera and English National Opera. While she values the collaborative experience of chorus work, she is particularly passionate about performing principal roles. Her repertoire includes Tisbe (La Cenerentola), Olga (Eugene Onegin), Diana (Orpheus in the Underworld) and Countess Ceprano (Rigoletto), reflecting a growing repertoire that spans both comic and dramatic works.

With a growing repertoire and recent engagements with Garsington Opera and English National Opera, Katey looks forward to the next stage of her career, continuing to develop as a versatile mezzo-soprano across opera, concert and recital.

Press Photos

Katey Rylands as Diana in Orpheus in the Underworld, If Opera, 2025

Photo: Craig Fuller Photography