Glowing critical acclaim has accompanied mezzo-soprano Karen Brunssen from her debut in Gounod's Faust with the Cincinnati Opera, and still greets her in many appearances as a favorite guest soloist with America's finest symphony orchestras.

Recent and upcoming engagements include a European tour performing Verdi's Requiem in Germany, France, Spain and Switzerland, Holiday Concerts with Music of the Baroque, Mendelssohn's Die Erste Walpurgisnacht with Grant Park Music Festival and Mahler Symphony No. 2 with Elgin Symphony, Verdi Requiem with Memphis Symphony, Penderecki Credo with Urbana Symphony and Brahms Alto Rhapsody at Northwestern University.

Last season, Ms. Brunssen performed Messiah with Omaha Symphony and Evansville Philharmonic, St. Matthew Passion with the Music of Baroque, the role of Giavanna in Rigoletto and the Witch and Mother in Hansel and Gretel with the Cedar Rapids Opera, and Spring Symphony with the Grant Park Music Festival in Chicago. Her other performances include Missa Solemnis with Evansville Philharmonic and Springfield Symphony, Messiah with Colorado and Omaha Symphonies, Handel's Magnificat and as Sorceress in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas and "Masque" from Dioclesian with Musica of the Baroque, as Mama in Tales of Hoffman with the Chicago Opera Theater, Bach Cantata No. 170 at the Peninsula Music Festival, Mozart's Requiem at the Grant Park Music Festival in Chicago, Mahler's Second symphony, Bach's Magnificat and Saint-Saens' Christmas Oratorio with Fort Wayne Philharmonic, Prokofieff's Alexander Nevsky with Grand Rapid Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with Evansville Philharmonic, and Bach's St. John Passion with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. In 97/98 season, Ms. Brunssen's concert appearances included Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass with Music of the Baroque in Chicago; Handel's Messiah with the Youngstown and Fort Wayne Symphonies, as well as the Mahler Second Symphony with Fort Wayne; Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the Florida Orchestra; Bach's St. John Passion with the New Jersey Symphony; the Mozart Requiem with Grant Park; and Das Lied von der Erde in Lincoln, Nebraska. In addition, Ms. Brunssen also portrayed the role of Julia Child in Chicago Opera Theatre's production of Lee Hoiby's Bon Appetit .

Additional concerts have included the Ninth Symphony, with the Seattle Symphony under Gerard Schwarz; the Anchorage Symphony, the Dayton and Buffalo Philharmonics, and the Louisville Orchestra; as well as Beethoven's Missa Solemnis at the Prague Autumn International Music Festival, the Grant Park Music Festival, the Cathedral Choral Society of Washington, D.C.. Verdi Requiem with Lawrence University, Arts San Antonio and Kalamazoo Symphony; Bach's Christmas Oratorio with the Pittsburgh Symphony; Messiah with the Illinois Symphony; Mahler's Eighth Symphony at the Aspen Festival and the Dayton Philharmonic; and Mendelssohn's Elijah with the Chattanooga Symphony. As a regular soloist with the esteemed Music of the Baroque in Chicago, Ms. Brunssen has frequently participated in their concert series, where she performed select Bach cantatas, works of Purcell and Handel, and Monteverdi's L'Incoronazione di Poppea, as well as a soloist in their productions of Calisto, Purcell's Fairy Queen, and Handel's Messiah.

Ms. Brunssen appears on the recording of Shoenberg's Moses und Aaron under the baton of Sir Georg Solti for Decca Records, as well as Vaughan Williams' Serenade to Music on the Vox MMG label. She has recorded with Music of the Baroque, most recently the Mozart Great Mass in C minor. She is a graduate of Luther College and the Yale School of Music, and Associate Porfessor of Music at Northwestern University School of Music where she is a member of the Voice Faculty, Coordinator of Voice and Opera and Co-Chairman of Performance Studies. She teaches at the International Institute of Vocal Arts in Chiari, Italy during the summer and has been a guest clinician for Chorus America and the American Choral Directors Association in addition to her many master classes and seminars.