ABOUT DANA

Dana Kinney is a trained classical singer and versatile artist working as a singer (mezzo-soprano), actor and director. She is recognized as “a consummate storyteller with a warm and clear tone.” Ms. Kinney’s performed throughout Colorado in roles such as Dinah in Trouble in Tahiti, Carmen in Carmen, Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte, and Lola in Cavalleria Rusticana. Other performances include Mercédès (Carmen) and Tisbe (La Cenerentola) in upstate New York with Opera Ithaca.

Ms. Kinney discovered her passion for performing as a member of the Junior Denver Bronco Cheerleaders. She continued her training as a dancer, giving yearly recitals and playing in theatrical productions throughout the community. These experiences fueled her ambition for staged theater and prepared her for character roles such as The Baker’s Wife (Into the Woods), Zita (Gianni Schicchi), Baba (The Medium) and Buttercup (H.M.S Pinafore). Ms. Kinney continues to expand her performing repertoire as a comedic actor and writer, finding ways to bridge her two loves of singing and comedy together. She performs monthly on the Sketch Comedy and Improv House Teams at Rise Comedy in Denver, Colorado.

Ms. Kinney has been a finalist in the Denver Lyric Opera Guild Competition and has received awards such as the Allied Arts’ Orville Moore Memorial Award. During her graduate studies, she was rewarded The Charles and Reta Ralph Graduate Scholarship, the Denver Lyric Opera Guild Scholarship and a graduate teaching assistantship in opera where she directed opera scenes and a production of Signor Deluso. She returned to her alma mater, Colorado State University, as a guest stage director for The Wandering Scholar.

Ms. Kinney’s directing career, coinciding with performance, began as an apprentice artist with Opera Fort Collins where she assisted her mentor, Brian Clay Luedloff, in over ten productions. Since then, she’s returned to the company to direct Amahl and the Night Visitors, Daughter of the Regiment and Thunder of Horses. Additionally, she has served on the directing and production staffs at The Dallas Opera, Syracuse Opera, Boulder Opera Company, Opera Steamboat (formally Emerald City Opera) and Loveland Opera Theatre. This season she made her company debut with Central City Opera, assisting Dan Wallace Miller on Roméo et Juliette and directing a portion of the “Short Works” performed by CCO studio artists. She holds a M.M in Voice Performance from Colorado State University and a B.A from the University of Northern Colorado.

Updated: November 2023