Danya Katok, originally from State College, PA, is an exceptionally versatile vocalist whose repertoire ranges from the pure straight tone of plainchant, to the lush soprano of the Romantic era, to the exciting belt of musical theater. She has performed in many of the country's top concert halls, including all three stages at Carnegie Hall, the State Theater and David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Kennedy Center, and Symphony Hall. She made her New York City Opera debut as Max in Oliver Knussen's Where the Wild Things Are, a role for which she was praised by The New York Times as being “superb." She has appeared as a soloist with The Boston Pops (“An Evening of Cole Porter," alongside Broadway legend Kelli O'Hara), Sacred Music in a Sacred Space (Haydn’s The Creation), Pennsylvania Chamber Orchestra (Mahler's Symphony No. 4), Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Chamber Choir (Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem), Mark Morris Dance Group (Thomson's Four Saints in Three Acts), and New York Symphonic Arts Ensemble (Mahler's Symphony No. 4 and Vaughan Williams' Serenade to Music). Musical theater and jazz credits include Anna (cover) in The King and I with Ash Lawn Opera Festival, jazz soloist with Mark Morris Dance Group at Jacob's Pillow, and Anne/Mae (cover) in O Night Divine at York Theatre Company (Off-Broadway). She has performed three cabaret shows at Don't Tell Mama, The Duplex, and other cabaret venues: her solo shows, CATS!: a cabaret and I Wish It So; and From Charm City to the Big Apple, a duo show with Kat Guthrie.

A two-time Vocal Fellow at Tanglewood Music Center and first-ever New Voices in American Song Fellow at SongFest, Danya has worked closely with song and opera composers, including Libby Larsen, Tom Cipullo, John Musto, Oliver Knussen, and Richard Hundley. She has enjoyed premiering new works by up-and-coming composers, such as Stuart Paul Duncan's Lament with the Cornell Festival Chamber Orchestra, Michael Strauss' Sassafras Dawn with members of the Mid-Atlantic Symphony, James Sproul's October, and David Bridges’ The Hill Wife, a "quartet for two people" where she played the violin and sang. She has received numerous awards in the contemporary music space, including the Phyllis Bryn-Julson Award for 20th/21st Century Music, Tanglewood’s Grace B. Jackson Prize, and the Ernst Bacon Prize for American Art Song. Other awards include Regional Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (Mid-Atlantic region), Winner of the Annual Teaneck Cabaret Competition, and Winner of the Baltimore Music Club Vocal Competition. She was a finalist in the 2016 Joy in Singing art song competition, led by Paul Sperry.

Danya's choral adventures have led her to perform with some of the world's best choirs and orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic (under Jaap van Zweden, Alan Gilbert, Bernard Labadie, and Bernard Haitink), Vienna Philharmonic (under Franz Welser-Möst), American Symphony Orchestra (under Leon Botstein), and San Francisco Symphony (under Michael Tilson Thomas). She regularly performs with Concerts at St. Ignatius, formerly Sacred Music in a Sacred Space (under K. Scott Warren) and Musica Sacra (under Kent Tritle) and can be heard in numerous recordings, including Essential Voices USA's Christmas and Hanukkah albums (directed by Judith Clurman), Evensong by Kevin Keller, the motion picture soundtracks to White Noise (where she was featured as a soloist), Noah; Hail, Caesar!; Zoolander 2, and Gemini Man; and on the television series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

Danya received her Doctor of Musical Arts in Voice Performance from The Graduate Center, CUNY in 2016. Her dissertation, "The Versatile Singer: A Guide to Vibrato & Straight Tone," which was nominated for the Barry S. Brooks Dissertation Award, can be downloaded here. She has a Masters of Music in Voice Performance & Pedagogy from Peabody Conservatory and Bachelors of Art in Music-Voice and Sociology from Penn State University. She has sung regularly with the professional choirs of Temple Emanu-El and the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola, where she served as the Executive Director of Concerts from 2021-2023. She has also completed graduated studies in Early Childhood Special Education at Hunter College. Danya has taught on the music faculties at Brooklyn College, Bronx Community College, and Hunter College and lives in the Bronx with her architect-husband, two sons, and cat, Dusty.