Ashley Knight is a classically-trained vocalist, composer, and interdisciplinary performer. Her trail-blazing approach translated Ashley’s wide-ranging musical interests and talent into several uniquely innovative collaborations and projects; she is equally comfortable at the forefront of the experimental music and performance scene as she is on the traditional opera stage. Her early career focused on pushing the boundaries of what it means to be an opera singer in the 21st century. It is this versatility, creative curiosity, and musicality which drove her to broaden her career into the realm of the performer/creator.
Ashley tours extensively as the featured classical vocalist with Japanese sensation Yoshiki and his band X Japan. In 2017, Ashley performed two sold-out classical concerts at New York’s Carnegie Hall with Yoshiki and the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra as part of the Yoshiki Classical Tour. In 2019, the Yoshiki: Live at Carnegie Hall special began airing across the USA on PBS, the nation's public television network.
Ashley was featured in Christopher Cerrone’s Pulitzer prize nominated opera, Invisible Cities. Performed in Downtown LA’s Union Station and produced by The Industry and Benjamin Millepied’s LA Dance Project, the opera attracted international attention as "the leading edge of operatic innovation" (Wired Magazine). As a solo performer, her installations have been featured at the Royal Academy of Art in London, Wild Renate in Berlin, and the de Young Museum in San Francisco.
Her vocals were featured on composer Michael Price’s critically acclaimed debut album on Erased Tapes Records, Entanglement, which was described as “gorgeous” by Rolling Stone.
In the world of film and television, Ashley’s musical contributions can be found on episodes of Chef’s Table (Netflix), Becoming You (Apple TV+), and the experimental film Titan. She frequently collaborates with her husband, Emmy-nominated composer Duncan Thum.
In addition to her contemporary music projects she has been featured in many well-known operatic roles including the Queen of the Night in Mozart's The Magic Flute, Susanna in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, Soeur Constance in Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites, and the title role in Handel's Agrippina. She holds a Masters of Music from UCLA.