American soprano, Elizabeth Beers Kataria is the 2008 winner of 1er Prix Femme in the 20ème Concours International de Chant de Marmande Lot-et-Garonne et de la Région Aquitaine (France) and a 2009 Liederkranz Foundation Vocal Competition Wagner Division Finalist.  She is the recipient of a study grant from the Wagner Society of New York and was selected to compete in the most recent Seattle Opera International Wagner Competition.  Previously, she was a finalist for the Lyric Opera of Chicago LOCAA Ensemble (2005), and a prize winner in the Professional Vocal Division of the Coeur d'Alene Symphony Young Artist Competition (2007).   
 
Elizabeth spent the summer of 2009 with Chautauqua Opera where she appeared as the Foreign Woman in The Consul and covered both Leonora in Il Trovatore and the title role in Tosca.  While at Chautauqua, she appeared with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra on a program of Opera Highlights conducted by James Meena and a Pops program conducted by Jack Everly.  
 

Of her recent appearance in the title role of Suor Angelica with Chelsea Opera, Lou Santacroce (former producer and host of NPR’s At the Opera) wrote:

“Kataria ought to have quite a career before her, for she negotiated the twists and turns in Angelica’s character without a hitch, changing from feigned cheerfulness to fevered hope to fearful anxiety without difficulty, and culminating in a shattering performance of the pivotal “Senza Mamma” which she traversed with an ease that belied its difficulty, reducing several members of the audience to tears in the process.” 

 

Earlier this spring, Elizabeth appeared singing Wagner selections at Lincoln Center in a Metropolitan Opera Guild masterclass entitled Wagner Lieds the Way (April 2009) with Jane Marsh.  Some of Elizabeth's other recent engagements include performances with Les Azuriales Opera Festival on the French Riviera and her debut as Leonore in a concert performance of Fidelio among others.  Elizabeth has appeared as the Countess in le nozze di Figaro, Cio-Cio San in Madama Butterfly, Magda in La Rondine and both Donna Elvira & Donna Anna in Don Giovanni; her appearance as Donna Anna was referred to as "Impressive," by the Ashville Citizen – Times.  She has been a featured soloist in numerous concerts and recitals, most notably as the soprano soloist in the Beethoven Missa Solemnis under the baton of the late Robert Shaw.  
 
Elizabeth is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music and currently resides with her husband just outside of New York City.