Kristine Ciesinski

Kristine Ciesinski (July 5, 1952 – June 9, 2018) was an American operatic soprano who had an active international career from the late 1970s through the 2000s. She was a resident artist for many years with Theater Bremen, Germany, and was a regular singer in London opera houses during the 1980s and 1990s. She was best known for her role in the English National Opera's 1990 production of Verdi’s Macbeth. In the latter part of her musical career, Ciesinski taught singing more than she performed. In her later years, she took up gliding and was a pilot/instructor at Teton Aviation. Ciesinski died in a glider crash in the mountains of Wyoming on June 9, 2018.

Life and career Born in Newark, Delaware, Ciesinski studied opera at Boston University and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. She made her professional opera debut in 1975 as Pamina in Mozart's The Magic Flute with the Washington Civic Opera (WCO) and conductor Richard Wylenmann leading the National Symphony Orchestra. Other early roles with the WCO included Marenka in Smetana's The Bartered Bride and Fiordiligi in Mozart's Così fan tutte. That same year she performed the role of Cio-Cio San in Madama Butterfly with the Chesapeake Opera, a company she performed regularly with through 1985. In 1976 she performed the role of the Countess in Richard Strauss's Capriccio with the Central City Opera. In 1977 she won the Geneva International Music Competition. She retired from performance in 2007, with her last appearance at the Teatro Regio in Turin, Italy, as Ariane in Paul Dukas's Ariane et Barbe-bleue.

Other opera companies Ciesinski performed with during her career included the Baltimore Opera Company, the Bavarian State Opera, the Dutch National Opera, the Hamburg State Opera, La Monnaie, La Scala, Milwaukee Opera Theatre, Opera Delaware, Oper Frankfurt, and the San Diego Opera among others.

Kristine's older sister, Katherine Ciesinski (born 1950), is also an opera singer. In 1996, the Ciesinski sisters appeared as themselves in the film (Love's Debris), directed by Kristine Ciesinski's frequent opera collaborator, Werner Schroeter. Kristine made her home in Idaho with her husband, the British bass-baritone Norman Bailey.

In addition to singing opera, Ciesinski was a passionate glider pilot and instructor. She died in a glider pilot crash in Grand Teton National Park in 2018.