Kim Sheehan is an award-winning Irish coloratura soprano, renowned for her light, agile and sonorous voice…
“Kim Sheehan as the jittery, self-sacrificing Nightingale is out of this world, her birdlike gestures and movements adding detail and finesse to an already resonant performance.”
— theartsreview.com
(The Nightingale and The Rose)
“…the soaring thrills of Kim Sheehan’s Nightingale.”
— Irish Times
(The Nightingale and The Rose)
“…the sheer beauty and strength of Kim Sheehan’s soprano voice in a hugely demanding role…”
-The Irish Examiner
(The Human Voice)
“…satisfying and fearless”
-The Irish Times
(The Magic Flute, Irish National Opera)
“As a Lady Gaga-style Queen of the Night, Irish soprano Kim Sheehan hits the fiendishly difficult coloratura with brilliant precision”
-The Irish Times
(The Magic Flute, Garsington)
“…angelic in her upper register”
-theartsdesk.com
(The Magic Flute, Garsington)
“…a voice that gets the pulse racing…”
-Financial Times
(Extraterrestrial Events)
“Sheehan sings with striking intensity…”
-Exeunt Magazine
(Extraterrestrial Events)
“Sumptuous singing from Kim Sheehan as Malwina…”
-The Irish Times
(Der Vampyr, Cork Operatic Society )
“…Kim Sheehan sang powerfully and movingly, the best I've ever heard her. ”
-The Irish Times
(The Human Voice)
“…the excellent Kim Sheehan”
New York Times
(Diana and Acteon, Royal Ballet, Covent Garden)
Kim has firmly established herself as a quintessential coloratura soprano, performing across the UK and throughout Europe with companies such as the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Zürich Opera House, Wexford Festival Opera, Opera North, Garsington Opera, Grange Park Opera and Irish National Opera.
Kim has a host of excellent reviews, awards and scholarships to show for her work, including her “outstanding” (Der Landbote) interpretation of Zerbinetta, an “utterly brilliant” (Arts Desk) and “truly star-blazing” (Osterländer Volkszeitung) Königin, with a voice that “sets the pulse racing” (Financial Times) and which shone “like the many fires of a diamond” (Forum Opera).
Kim’s personal career highlights include singing Diana in the world premiere of Jonathan Dove’s Diana and Acteon at the ROH, her portrayal of the title role in The Nightingale and the Rose with The Everyman, her hallmark role of Queen of the Night with INO’s The Magic Flute, and an Irish nationwide tour of Poulenc’s one-woman operaThe Human Voice. Most recently, Kim premiered the role of Deirdre in Morrígan at the Cork Opera House, a character written specially for her by composer John O’Brien. Kim’s performance earned her a nomination for Best Female Performance of 2022 by Art and Music, Ireland.
Kim graduated with the Gold Medal from DIT Conservatory of Music, Dublin before taking up a four-year scholarship at the Benjamin Britten International Opera School at the Royal College of Music, London. From there, she continued onto the prestigious International Opera Studio at Zürich Opera House, where she honed her craft with the support of renowned signing teachers, coaches, conductors and directors.
Kim is formidable in her commitment to operatic roles and has that Irish magic that directors love. Kim is well-known for her ability to create unique, idiosyncratic characters, and to form trusted bonds with her audience. From singing in a trapeze as Queen of the Night, to embodying a nightingale, to diving into the depths of the wild and intelligent Deirdre of the Sorrows, there is no role Kim couldn’t make her own.
In addition to her work on stage, Kim uses the voice as a healing tool. In 2020, she was awarded the inaugural Jane Anne Rothwell Award for All That Is Sound, a vocal meditation installation at Cork Midsummer Festival. In the same year, she won the Art and Music Award for Magnanimity for Good Vibrations, the online voice vibration class she ran during lockdown.