“I ALWAYS think this could be my last performance. You never know when you’re going to get to sing something again or work with the same people again, but I also think it’s good: it makes you enjoy every minute of it.”
A life in the spotlight was by no means a dream that came easily to Kathryn Rudge. Born in Liverpool to a family of non-musicians, the now multi-award winning opera singer could never have imagined she would one day be lighting up stages the world over.
Since graduating from the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, she has appeared at the BBC Proms and performed with orchestras and festivals around the world – including right here in Saddleworth.
2026 marks 10 years since Kathryn first appeared at the Uppermill Summer Music Festival, which this year takes place between July 4 and 11.
The pressure is certainly on for the festival’s opening act – but, she insists, “it’s such a pleasure to be there”.
“I love going to Uppermill,” she says. “I love a day there, and so many of my friends come over from Liverpool and get so excited to go through all the shops and the high street.
“Duncan, who runs the festival – we’ve known each other since college. We love working together, so whenever I can, I love performing here.”
Despite having no musicians in her family growing up, Kathryn says she’d been met with nothing but support when she began pursuing music at 15.
“It was a teacher I met who helped me really sort out which direction to go in with my voice, and I had no idea it was going to be a career or anything – I just enjoyed performing,” she says.
“I think [my family] were just glad I was getting some help in figuring out how to use my voice, because it was always loud, but it wasn’t always sounding great!
“I was trying to do pop songs and Britney Spears, and I didn’t have a clue what I was doing. Then suddenly, when someone passed over to me the sheet music for these old songs, and then said, ‘Oh, here’s another one in a different language’.
“I was like, ‘Okay, this feels better. This is what I should try’. And that was how I fell in love with it.”
It had come as something of a relief, then, when she became old enough to enter the Royal Northern College of Music, and later to begin work as a full-time mezzo-soprano musician.
“The first time I walked into Manchester, I suddenly felt like I’d found a place where I could just hear music everywhere.
“[Starting my career] was like being thrown in the deep end – there was the feeling of the unknown, and nothing really prepares you for it.
“For me, it was a big thing to move down to London and then suddenly be in the rehearsal period of everything, but there are so many good people out there who lend a hand and guide you along the way. So far, I’m just keeping on going and seeing where it leads to.”
Where it has led is a long and varied string of accolades from institutions both local and national. A BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist, Harewood Artist at the English National Opera, and a listing as one of the Merseyside’s Women of the Year in 2016 are just a handful of her achievements – not to mention being a patron of the North Midlands School of Music, the Richard Shephard Foundation, and the Clatterbridge Cancer Charity.
“There’s no rule book to it, and I didn’t quite understand when I first began how much of a vocation it is,” she says. “I was studying for about nine years in Manchester, and I’m still learning now. It never ends.”
Alongside touring across the country to sing, Kathryn has since taken up a new challenge: teaching others to sing through workshops and classes, particularly those who are brand new to the opera scene.
It’s not a field she feels is reserved for any “particular type” of person, either. “I think anybody can get into anything if you spend enough time with it, and if they really enjoy listening to it.
“I absolutely love doing all the work with young artists. It’s all just time together exploring pieces, and to be perfectly honest, I learn loads from doing that. It really lights my fire.
“I hope those memories and encouragement really will keep them going because it’s such a tricky path. Anyone that’s singing is going to have real challenges along the way, so it’s a privilege to have a moment where I can just be with them and enjoy some time together.
“I think anyone who’s curious about it should try it, and maybe the first time they see something, there’ll be something about a piece of music they love, and the next time might be about the whole story or the set or the costume. It’s an amazing art form.”
This year’s Uppermill Music Festival will by no means be the last for Kathryn, who performed on Saturday, July 4 and hosted a vocal masterclass on Tuesday, July 7.
“It’s a joy, and Duncan’s so wonderful at putting these festivals together, but the thing that I most look forward to at Uppermill is the warmth of all the people there in the audience.
“When we’ve been going for ten years now, there are all these familiar faces – and some new ones sometimes as well – coming along, and seeing everyone again feels like a concert and a gathering of friends.
“It’s a real privilege just to be able to be with everyone and sing for them.”
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