Karolyn Lee Gholston, soprano and adjunct instructor of voice at Kenyon College, has gained a stellar reputation in operatic, and recital works in the central Ohio area. She is native of Altoona, Pennsylvania, and received a B.A. from Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania in music performance. She went on to earn an M.M in vocal performance/pedagogy from The Ohio University.
Recent engagements include the soprano soloist in Brahms’s "Ein deutsches Requiem" with Kenyon and the Knox County Symphony, soprano vocalist in William Todd’s "Mass in Blue" at the 2023 Kentucky Blues & Jazz Festival with Capriccio Columbus, guest solo artist with the Capriccio Jubilee singers spring 2023 season, Opera Columbus’s guest vocalist in both productions of "The Journey, The Voice of Freedom" and "The Voice of Freedom Civil Rights" where she performed her original work "Uncomfortable Conversations." Gholston has been a featured guest vocalist for The Black Opera Alliance’s Gala, Capriccio Columbus’s Shout for Joy Concert and soloist for Nathaniel Dett’s The Chariot Jubilee.
Past opera roles include La Ciesca in Opera Columbus "Gianni Schicchi," Annie in Opera Columbus’ world premiere "The Flood Workshop," Kate Pinkerton in "Madama Butterfly," Anna (Donna Anna) in Opera Columbus’ ten performance production of "#UncleJohn," which is an adaptation of Mozart’s "Don Giovanni." Gholston has also sung the roles of the infirmary nun in Opera Project Columbus’ production of "Suor Angelica," Lucia in Nino Rota’s "I Due Timidi" with Opera Project Columbus, Musetta in "La Bohèmé" with the first collaboration of Shadow Box and Opera Columbus’s "Opera on the Edge," Fiordiligi in "Cosi fan tutte" in Firenze, Italy, with the Florence Voice Seminar/Westminster Choir College.
Along with her concert and solo work, Gholston has created her own music genre #Opsoul, which is a fusion of soul and contemporary music with operatic voicings. She is a published songwriter with a catalogue of over 40 published songs, online content creator and music influencer.