Katie Small

Founder & Executive Director

757 . 254 . 5284   |   smalloperacompany@gmail.com

Katherine Oates Small has “a lovely mezzo soprano voice, and sings with consistent sweetness of tone and dramatic commitment. There is wonderful diversity in her repertoire…and I particularly admire how her voice sustains depth throughout the fireworks of Rossini and also keeps its ring throughout the more sorrowful moments of Massenet.” (Dr. Friedlander, Carnegie Hall Weill Music Institute).  BuckHaven Lifestyle Magazine boasts Mrs. Small is "Brookhaven's Own Diva" and claims her talent "lights up the state"!  Katie has performed leading roles to much acclaim with the Ash Lawn Opera Young Artists (now Charlottesville Opera), Capitol City Opera Company, the Atlanta Opera Studio Tour, Peach State Opera, Georgia State University, Opera Breve, Harrower Summer Opera Workshop, and Florida State University.  Along with extensive scene work and solo performances (classical, operatic, & musical theater), full operatic roles include:  Charlotte (Werther), Dorabella (Così fan tutte), Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Jo (Little Women), Hermia (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Elizabeth Proctor (The Crucible), Pitti-Sing (The Mikado), Papagena (The Magic Flute), Ruth (Pirates of Penzance), Mayor (Stone Soup), Ernesto (Billy Goats Gruff), and Gertrude McFuzz & Sam I Am (A Seussome Twosome).  At GSU, Katie was the recipient of the Atlanta Opera Guild Scholarship Award, selected as a 2015 Brumby Concerto Competition winner, and competed as a finalist in the Advanced Women category of the 2015 Southeast NATS competition.  During her time in Atlanta, Katie served as a director of the Atlanta chapter of Opera on Tap and founded Small Opera, her compact company bringing Nomadic Vocal Drama and pop-up opera around the community!  Now in Charleston, Katie is happily expanding SMOP in the Lowcountry.  Charleston's Post and Courier praises her "big ambition" stating, "With command of these roles and the sundry arias each character sings, Small has created for herself a great operatic foundation from which she launched her opera company..." Katie and SMOP have also been featured in Charleston City Paper, North Charleston Arts Fest, Charleston Library Society Series, Piccolo Spoleto, Charleston Riverdogs & Stingrays games, and TEDxCharleston.