Catherine Gayer (born 11 February 1937) is an American coloratura soprano, violinist, musicologist, and academic voice teacher.
[1] On 13 April 1961, she performed the female lead role (Die Gefährtin) in the premiere of Luigi Nono's Intolleranza 1960 at La Fenice in Venice,[2] and was afterwards engaged by Rudolf Sellner as a member of the ensemble of the Deutsche Oper Berlin.
[1] She appeared in Europe in classical repertory, and especially in contemporary opera, in roles such as Hilde Mack in Henze's Elegie für junge Liebende and Marie in Bernd Alois Zimmermann's Die Soldaten, staged by Hans Neuenfels.
On 24 April 1963, she performed in the first scenic production of Darius Milhaud's trilogy L'Orestie d'Eschyle, which was also the premiere of its third part, at the Deutsche Oper Berlin.
[3] On 26 July 1976, she appeared in Josef Tal's Die Versuchung (The Temptation) at the Bavarian State Opera, conducted by Gary Bertini.