My background includes extensive singing and instrumental study and performance in classical, choral, jazz, folk, folk-rock and bluegrass styles. I come from extended family of professional & amateur musicians and music educators: Live music-making and learning with others was part of the rhythm of every single day.
I partnered with composers and grant organizations to program or premier over 300 original American works in eight languages from 1980 to 2010. Collaborations took place with such luminary composers as the late John Cage, Clare Shore, Lori Laitman, Anne LeBaron and Ulf Grahn. For archived recordings, please scroll down.
Regionally & locally I sang opera roles from Fiordiligi (Mozart’s Cosi fan Tutte) to….The Grouch (the premier of the staged version of Robert Kapilow’s Green Eggs and Ham) to… Aslan, the Lion (Thomas Tierney’s off-Broadway musical Narnia) where I was the first woman to be cast in this role.
Oratorio soloist appearances included Beethoven’s Mass in C with The North Carolina Symphony; Poulenc’s Gloria with The Reston Chorale; Bach’s Magnificat with The Washington Bach Consort, and Mozart’s Mass in C Minor with The Moore Country Chorale Society. Appearances also included as soloist in Handel’s Messiah, Schuberts’ Mass in G and Mass in E-flat and Haydn Lord Nelson Mass.
I had many years as a collaborative pianist for classical singers and instrumentalists, musical theater productions, children’s theater and sacred services.
Numerous choral conducting credits include The Levine Women’s Chorus at The Millennium Stage of The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and Strathmore Hall for the Performing Arts ; Singer’s Centre for Girls at the Howard University Centre for the Performing Arts, and works for choirs, chamber orchestra and organ.
I am a published composer/arranger for SSAA Choirs with the former Arsis Press
My parallel loves of the visual arts & music inspired the creation and performance of unique solo singing programs for national art museums and galleries, coordinating exhibits with song. I was featured artist-in-residence for The National Museum of Women in the Arts, The Renwick Gallery of Art, The Corcoran Gallery of Art, The Phillips Collection, the Smithsonian Resident Associates and the Bethune Museum Archives, among many others.
I worked as a professional singer for over 25 years before I received a diagnosis of bi-lateral vocal fold paresis. This terrible experience, along with a crazy history of 8 abdominal surgeries, are how and why I came to my unique manner of working with singers: I pulled myself up and out of medical and physical trauma with many methods, proving that science, the arts and authentic spiritual growth can all be different paths in service of Healing and Transformation.
READ SOME OF MY REVIEWS:
“What we have here is a baby Flagstad.”
“Two performers stood out last night… Cathryn Frazier-Neely had the proper vocal suppleness and emotional depth for Fiordiligi…”
“[CFN], as Fiordiligi, was excellent, not only for her superb voice but for her characterization as well.”
“As the soprano soloist, Ms. Frazier-Neely sang with depth, warmth, crystal clarity and focus of tone.”
“Soprano CFN sang the ‘Suite for Voice and Violin’ by Heitor Villa-Lobos with style and confidence.”
“Late Twentieth-century vocal music requires that singers make text come alive within complex tonalities and rhythmic structures. CFN is a soprano who can do all this beautifully and, seemingly, easily. A vocal acrobat on a high wire!”
“Mellnik was followed by CFN, a local favorite, who sang the aria ‘Ebben? Ne andro lontana…’ from 19th century composer Alfredo Catalani’s opera ‘La Wally.’ Frazier-Neely’s delivery was ravishing—strongly emotional, yet childlike. One longs to hear this soprano sing the gemlike solo part in Mahler’s wintry 4th symphony, which requires similar vocal qualities.”
“…a program full of bright ideas and relatively neglected repertoire. Both singers had imagination, well-rounded tone and heart-felt communication with voices a shade too big for the small hall.”
Performance Gallery
Live Recordings
(no studio recordings, fixes, or edits)
CV