Kay Griffel (born December 26, 1940, in Eldora, Iowa) is an American operatic spinto soprano. 　　Early life and education 　　After earning a Bachelor of Music from Northwestern University, she pursued further studies with Lotte Lehmann at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara. She received a Fulbright Scholarship and a Rockefeller Foundation Grant. In 1962 she won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. She also won a competition sponsored by the National Association of Teachers of Singing. In the mid 1960s she pursued graduate studies at the Musikhochschule Berlin. She also received further instruction from Nadia Boulanger at the Fontainebleau School and Pierre Bernac in Paris. 　　Career 　　On November 4, 1960, Griffel made her stage debut at the Lyric Opera of Chicago (LOC) as Mercedes in Georges Bizet's Carmen with Jean Madeira in the title role, Renata Scotto as Micaela, Giuseppe di Stefano as Don Jose, Robert Merrill as Escamillo, and Lovro von Matacic conducting. She also appeared at the LOC in the 1960-1961 season as the Shepherd Boy in Giacomo Puccini's Tosca, Siegrune in Richard Wagner's Die Walküre, the Little Savoyard in Umberto Giordano's Fedora, and Kate Pinkerton in Puccini's Madama Butterfly. 　　In 1963 Griffel then moved to Berlin and was soon given several assignments in the mezzo-soprano repertoire at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. She then became a member of the Bremen Opera and the Mainz Opera. At the later opera house she began to branch out into leading soprano roles. She continued to perform on a regular basis at the opera houses in both Karlsruhe and Bremen until 1973, when she became a resident member of the Staedtische Buehnen in Cologne.