RESEARCH

San Diego’s Lost Art Songs

Katina is dedicated to reviving the work of Alice Barnett Stevenson, an early 20th-century composer who spent her life in San Diego. Katina worked for over a year with the original manuscripts in the San Diego History Center archives to bring this music to life for the first time this century in a lecture recital at Balboa Park’s San Diego History Center. She also shared her research at the Western History Association Conference in October 2023 on the panel "Gender and Music in California: Rediscovering Early Twentieth-Century Music Scenes from the Parlor to the Redwoods" and at the National Association of Teachers of Singing Vocal Symposium at San Diego State University.

Hildegard von bingen

Katina has edited and arranged Hildegard’s compositions for solo and multiple voices. The production of Ordo Virtutum that she directed was performed from an original edition, completed by Ned Tipton with Katina Mitchell’s consultation. Katina’s Hildegard arrangements have been performed at events from Monday Evening Concerts (Los Angeles) to the Berkeley Early Music Festival. Katina’s ongoing interest in Hildegard’s work extends to Hildegard’s greater body of work, and is not limited to her musical compositions.

Luigi Rossi and the Roman Virtuosa

Katina’s doctoral work culminated in a document and lecture recital focusing on the ravishing lyric baroque music of 17th-century composer Luigi Rossi, including ten new editions of repertoire for multiple voices, and the discovery of a new piece not yet dealt with in scholarship. This project focused on women who exploited a burgeoning 17th-century class mobility through virtuosic musical achievements. The sources are 17th-century manuscripts found in Italy and England, and Katina’s research in Rome was funded by a grant from USC. Katina recently had the opportunity to reprise this lecture for music history students at the University of San Diego.