Pianist Kelly Horsted, a native of Sioux City, Iowa, enjoys an
active career in NYC as an accompanist, music director and vocal
coach specializing in new opera, art song, and role preparation.
An enthusiast of new music, Kelly returns for a third season as a
co-music director for the Composers and the Voice series at
American Opera Projects in Fall 2011. His collaboration with American
Opera Projects has also included performances of Tarik O'Regan's
Heart of Darkness and music direction for several readings of Paula
Kimper's opera, The Bridge of San Luis Rey. He assisted preparing
the cast of Patience and Sarah for the chamber opera's premiere at
the Lincoln Center Festival and was a part of the first semi-staged
workshop of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, an
opera-in-development by Hershel Garfein directed by Mark Morris.
In Fall of 2010 Kelly was a part of the artistic team at Chelsea Opera
performing Glory Denied by Tom Cipullo, returning to the piece in
Spring 2011 as part of the preparation staff for Urban Arias.
Kelly was pleased to perform on the20th Anniversary concert for
Friends and Enemies of New Music featuring Baritone Chris Pedro
Trakas and works by Adams, Bolcom and Yarmolinsky. Other contemporary music performances include
Vector 5, Cutting Edge Music, Downtown Music Productions, Five Words in a Line and the Guggenheim Museum's Works and Process series.
Dedicated to the development of singers and musicians, Kelly has been a frequent collaborator at NYU's Tisch Graduate Musical Theater Program. Kelly returned to Ann Baltz's Operaworks in California in June 2009, completing five summers as a faculty member. As a visiting lecturer, Kelly music directed Hunter College's flagship mixed bill, The Sisters of Nikolas Flagello and M. Choufleuri of Offenbach. As a coach at the Mannes College of Music, he served as music director for performances of Ned Rorem's Three Sisters Who Are Not Sisters. Kelly served as staff accompanist at the International Workshops in Graz, Austria, and at the Bowdoin Summer Music Festival in Brunswick, Maine.
An active performer, Kelly participated in the Wintergreen Festival headed by Larry Allen Smith, where his performances included Respighi's adaptation of Monteverdi's Orfeo as well as two Liederabends. Kelly was Assistant Conductor for Donizetti's L'Elisir D'Amore at New Jersey Opera Theatre and pianist for Menotti's The Medium and I Pagliacci with Opera Company of Brooklyn. He spent two years as faculty member at Intermezzo Opera as Assistant Conductor for L'Enfant et les Sortileges, in West Palm Beach, Florida, and as head coach for performances of Mark Adamo's opera, Little Women under the baton of Steven Osgood at the Hartt School in Connecticut. Mr. Horsted was music director for performances of Cosi fan Tutte at Merkin Concert Hall with director Janet Bookspan, and for Harrisburg, PA's Opera in the Park. He performed at Wall to Wall Bernstein at Symphony Space. Kelly was music director of the New York based opera company The CoOperative for six years. Kelly performs community outreach programs regularly as part of Trinity Church's Concerts to Go, Concerts in Motion, and as music director of La Piccola Opera with Arts Horizons.
Mr. Horsted is a gifted and versatile pianist whose other performances include appearances at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall and the prestigious Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, as well as Fountainbleau, France and NBC's Weekend Today Show. He earned both Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Eastman School of Music, where he was a fellowship recipient and 1st place winner in the Kneisel Lieder Competition.
