Born in Belarus, Katharina Melnikova studied singing at the Graz Art University with Johanna Borowska-Isser. While still a student she was recognised by the distinguished singer Michael Schade for her vocal talents.

In 2014 she made her debut in the title-role of Franz von Suppé’s comic opera Die schöne Galathée. Her subsequent roles have included Fedora in Die Zirkusprinzessin, Adele in Die Fledermaus, The Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte, Despina in Così fan tutte, Galatea in Acis and Galatea, La Fée in Cendrillon and Gilda in Rigoletto.

She has gone on to appear at the Operá Bastille, the Deutsche Oper, in Trieste, Freiburg and Coburg, and with summer operetta at the Aix-en-Provence Festival.

She has worked with conductors including Gianluigi Gelmetti, Philippe Jordan, Pedro Haffner-Caro, Theodor Guschlbauer, Oksana Lyniv, Svetoslav Borisov and Fabrice Bollon, and in concert with the Graz Philharmonic Orchestra, the Con Fuoco Chamber Orchestra, the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern and the Bochum Symphony Orchestra.