About Whitney
Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Whitney made her symphony debut at age 7 singing in the children’s chorus in the West Coast premiere of music from John William’s “Home Alone” with Orange County’s Pacific Symphony. She has performed a program of Oscar-winning songs under the baton of world-renowned conductor Richard Kaufman with the Malaysia Philharmonic Orchestra in Kuala Lumpur and the Santa Barbara Symphony.
Whitney has been appearing as a principal vocalist in “Disney in Concert” with orchestras around the globe including the Pacific Symphony, the Calgary Philharmonic, the Blossom Festival Orchestra, the Atlanta Symphony, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in Australia, and the National Symphony at the Kennedy Center. She was chosen to sing the world concert premier of a deleted song from the Disney film “Mary Poppins” in the Sherman Brothers tribute concert “A Spoonful of Sherman” put on by the Golden State Pops Orchestra. Whitney was the featured vocal soloist with the Florida Orchestra, the Kasnas City Symphony, and the St. Louis Symphony in their Christmas Celebration Concerts, and can be heard on recent recordings of songs written by Oscar-winning composer Dimitri Tiomkin.
Whitney was featured with the London Symphony Orchestra at the Barbican Theater singing those Tiomkin songs, and can be heard on the LSO Live recording of that concert, “Dimitri Tiomkin: The Greatest Film Scores.” The arrangement of “Wild is the Wind” was nominated for the 2013 Grammy Award for Best Arrangement (Nan Schwarz).
Whitney was seen as an Equity guest artist playing Olive Ostrovsky in the Theatre Group at Santa Barbara City College’s production of “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.” Noozhawk.com had this to say about her portrayal:
“As the sensitive and fanciful Olive, Santa Barbara newcomer Whitney Claire Kaufmanpaints a vivid portrait of a lonely girl who loves language and amuses herself with its whims in the absence of attentive parents. The newly blossoming connection between her and William is charmingly played by both actors, and is perhaps the most memorable element of the show.”
Whitney has performed in several new musicals in Los Angeles including “Pop!: The 80s Musical,” “Mutthouse,” and originated the lead role of Claire in “London Undone” by Scooter Pietsch.
She joined the North American Tour of the International hit musical, “Mamma Mia!” as understudy for the roles of Sophie and Lisa. Following her appearance as Sophie, The Boston Globe reported of her performance:
“Sophie was played with assurance and aplomb on opening night by understudy Whitney Claire Kaufman. With her pure, clear voice, gentle or forceful as called for, but always beautifully placed – she really deserves to vault straight to Broadway. Plus, her acting is as compelling as her singing”. Whitney appeared in the part of Sophie in various cities including San Francisco, Boston, Chicago and Philadelphia.
As both a singer and voice-over performer in film and television, Whitney has been heard on productions including “That Championship Season”, “The Secret of NiMH 2”, and two MGM animated series: “All Dogs Go to Heaven” and “Noddy”. Other television appearances include General Hospital, the hit ABC series “Modern Family”, and “Up All Night” with Christina Applegate.
At age five, Whitney began her acting career on the daytime television drama “General Hospital”. In the years to follow, she appeared in “Annie Get Your Gun” with the Fullerton Civic Light Opera, as Sally Bowles in “Cabaret” at the Covina Center for the Performing Arts, and as Peaseblossom in the Shakespeare Orange County production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. Whitney appeared with the Los Angeles Theatre Ensemble in the critically acclaimed original play, “Wounded”, which was presented in Los Angeles, on tour in Northern California, and at the prestigious Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland. She was involved in the workshop of the new play “Hearing the Deaf” with the Los Angeles theater company Son of Semele Ensemble. The piece featured both hearing and deaf actors. She was also a member of the Los Angeles-based educational theater ensemble, Will and Company, which performed classic plays for students of all ages.
Whitney is a graduate, with honors, from Chapman University in Orange, California, having earned a BFA degree in theater performance. While at Chapman, she appeared in numerous theatrical productions including “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, “Animal Farm”, “The Robber Bridegroom”, and was honored with the Henry Kemp Blair Award for Outstanding Performance in Theatre for her portrayal of the role of June in “Marisol”. Whitney was also a featured performer in “American Celebration”, Chapman University’s annual Gala Show and scholarship fundraiser.