Award-winning coloratura soprano and D.C.-area native Catherine Wethington has dazzled audiences across North America and Europe with her “sumptuous coloratura and other-worldly pianissimi” (Herald Tribune). Winner of the 2023 City of Brescia Tribute to Maria Callas International Competition—where she also earned the Callas Award and Verdi Award—she has appeared in leading opera roles from Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail to Verdi’s Rigoletto.
Last year, she added another role to her impressive resume: Mom. These days, life is a mix of lullabies and arias, diaper changes and dress rehearsals. The D.C.-area native is navigating the joyful chaos of life with a one-year-old while preparing for a milestone performance: headlining Journey of Faith: A Musical Tribute to Mother Teresa at the Music Center at Strathmore on Saturday, September 6, 2025, at 8 p.m. Tickets are available at Strathmore.org.
First performed at Carnegie Hall earlier this year, Journey of Faith celebrates Saint Mother Teresa’s legacy and the 75th anniversary of her Missionaries of Charity, now serving in 139 countries. Curated by Wethington alongside renowned conductor Dante Santiago Anzolini, the program features the Grammy® Award-winning Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, a professional Tribute Chorale, and baritone Sean Michael Plumb, performing works by Bernstein, J.S. Bach, Fauré, Missy Mazzoli, and more.
A centerpiece of the evening is Hymn for Mother Teresa, composed by Albanian Genc Tukiçi on a motif by Lorenc Antoni, a cousin of Mother Teresa. The work debuted at her canonization at the Vatican in 2016 and holds special meaning for Wethington, who first performed it in Albania and later at Carnegie Hall.
Washington Family: This September, you’ll be performing in Journey of Faith: A Musical Tribute to Mother Teresa. What excites you most about this concert and the story it tells through music?
Catherine Wethington: I believe that music has a unique ability to transcend the things that divide us. It connects us on a spiritual level no matter our faith-tradition, cultural background, or language. As a result, a program like this can offer the artists and audience an opportunity to reflect and connect with the life of a person that devoted themselves to serving others. Creating music that is meant to be an act of service in connection to community that can inspire a call for more peace, love, and acceptance in our world is an exciting prospect as an artist on this program.
WF: Balancing a professional singing career with motherhood is no small feat. What have you learned about managing both roles, and how has motherhood influenced your artistry?
CW: Balancing both is not without its challenges — exhaustion from sleepless nights with a newborn, juggling schedules to carve out practice time, mom brain fog (it’s real!), wanting to give your kid the attention and time they deserve and pay the bills, too! I’m sure it’s much like juggling motherhood and any other career! But, I’ve been lucky to have a great partnership with my husband and support from our families. They make the juggling act of parenting, gigs, teaching, and travel that much more manageable. Becoming a mother has made me more focused, more protective of my time, more compassionate, and more willing to ask for help! As for how becoming a mother has changed my artistry and voice, I would have to say I’m more confident in myself and in my artistic choices. I am pleased with the direction my vocal development has progressed, including a more rich and full middle voice that has also maintained the flexibility and ease at the top. For lack of a better way to say it, becoming a mother has allowed me to come into my own.
WF: Mother Teresa’s life was centered on service and compassion. How do those themes resonate with you personally, both as a performer and as a mother?
CW: I firmly believe that music is its most powerful and meaningful when it provides connection to community, from singing for churches, weddings and funerals, to the concert and opera stage you find connection with your fellow musicians and your conductor, connection with the character and storyline, connection with the past and the present, connection to the composer’s vision, and connection with the audience. It’s about the people. And for me music is my way of serving and showing compassion. Music is my vehicle for healing and emotional expression. It can be cathartic.
As a mother it’s fascinating to see how music impacts my daughter. From helping her settle for bedtime or naps, to making her smile during playtime. I love seeing the joy she gets from banging on our piano or playing on a small drum or xylophone. My hope is that I can teach my daughter how to be a good person, a good neighbor, kind and compassionate by leading by example. By showing her how we can use our individual gifts, whatever they may be, to care for those in our communities and beyond.
WF: When you think about your children watching you on stage, what do you hope they take away from seeing you pursue your passion?
CW: While my daughter is still young (1), I do hope that when she is older she sees how pursuing a passion, doing the work to learn one’s craft to the best of your ability reaps rewards far greater than accolades and wealth. And while I hope she is a lover of music (the day may come when she says “Mama stop singing!”), my wish for her is that she finds a path that fills her life with meaning, joy, and possibility, too.
Catch Catherine’s Strathmore debut on Saturday, September 6, 2025. Tickets start at $39 and are available at https://www.strathmore.org/events-tickets/in-the-music-center/journey-of-faith-a-musical-tribute-to-mother-teresa/ .
Check out these highlights from Catherine’s Carnegie debut performance of Journey of Faith:
