Biography
Catherine Charlton's "shimmering soprano" was familiar to North Carolina audiences prior to her retirement from performance in 2010. She performed on several occasions under the baton of Maestro Gerhardt Zimmermann both in Raleigh with the North Carolina Symphony Orchestra and in Ohio with the Canton Symphony. Maestro Zimmermann invited her to be one of the guest soloists for his final concert as Music Director of the NCSO.
Catherine has appeared with orchestras and choral ensembles throughout the eastern United States and abroad, including the New Orleans Philharmonic, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London, the Mid-Texas Symphony, the Orchestra of the Southern Fingerlakes, the Tar River Orchestra, the Raleigh Oratorio Society, Durham, Hickory, Johnston County, and Jefferson County (VA) Choral Societies, as well as the University of Maryland and American University choruses in repertoire including Orff's Carmina Burana, Handel's Messiah, Mozart's Grand Mass in C Minor, Mendelssohn's Elijah and others. She has been featured in a broadcast with the Mallarme Chamber Players performing Ravel's Chansons Madecasses on WUNC radio, and has performed with the Opera Company of North Carolina at Raleigh's First Night Celebration singing the role of Lucy in Menotti's The Telephone and also was featured in and OCNC's Carolina Voices concert. She performed with the Charlotte Philharmonic Orchestra along with fellow sopranos Jacquelyn Culpepper and Katherine Luna in "Viva la Diva", a program modeled after the popular Three Tenors programs. Catherine has performed at the American Music Festival, Blossom Music Festival, Cullowhee Music Festival, Seagle Colony, at An Appalachian Summer Music Festival and at the Breckenridge Music Festival in Colorado, singing repertoire from Mozart to Gershwin.
A passionate lover of recitals and art song, Catherine has been presented on recital series in Maryland, New York, Virginia, Texas, Ohio, Connecticut, North Carolina, West Point, and at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. A recipient of several awards and scholarships over the years, Catherine is most proud of being the recipient of a Teacher Recognition Award in June, 2004, from the United States Presidential Scholars program, one of only 140 given nationally. Holding degrees from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, and The Ohio State University, Catherine has served on the faculties of The Potomac School in McLean, Virginia, Meredith College, and St. Mary's School in Raleigh. A member of both the National Association of Teachers of Singing and the Music Teachers National Association, she also currently serves on the Board of Directors of the North Carolina Opera and is an active volunteer for the USO of North Carolina.
Catherine and her husband Glenn White have three children: Taylor, a globe trotting artist, (taylurk.com); Sally, an army captain and West Point graduate; and Peter, a Los Angeles piano technician and musician. (pianotechla.com).