Sarah Joanne Davis, Soprano

Hailed by the Boston Globe as “elusive, delicate, silvery and persuasive," Sarah Davis is an emerging soprano who is versatile in contemporary works, art song, oratorio and opera. Ms. Davis began the season as a vocal fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center, where she performed Matthias Pintscher's Lieder und Schneebilder at the Festival of Contemporary Music and performed for Andre Previn's 80th Birthday celebration. While at Tanglewood, she studied with James Levine, Dawn Upshaw, Craig Rutenberg, Alan Smith and Phyllis Curtin.  During the  fall she was the soprano soloist with the Vox Ama Deus Ensemble at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, for Haydn's Bicentennial Gala, singing the Lord Nelson Mass, conducted by Valentin Radu. She appeared with the Opera Company of Philadelphia's production of Madama Butterfly.  She debuted with Center City Opera Theater singing the roles of Gilda (Rigoletto) and Pamina (Magic Flute) and will sing the Countess in the  Act II Finale of Mozart's Marriage of Figaro.  Upcoming engagments include:  A recital for the Chamber Music Now Series in Philadelphia, performing world premieres entitled "I did not have sex with that woman," a return as Artist in Residence at the Baldwin Walalce Art Song Festival, Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass at Trinity University in San Antonio, and her debut with the Cleveland Orchestra, singing Matthias Pintscher's with lilies white.  She will be returning to Lenox, Massachusetts again this summer as a Vocal Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center.  

Last season (2008-09), Ms. Davis performed in Romania at the Harclee Darclea Festival, working with Romanian soprano, Mariana Nicolesco. She was an Artist in Residence at the Baldwin Wallace Art Song Festival in Cleveland, Ohio, with Stephanie Blythe and Warren Jones. She was chosen as an American competitor at the Dutch International Vocalisten Concours in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands. Ms. Davis then debuted at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, singing the soprano solo in Beethoven's Missa Solemnis with Vox Ama Deus Ensemble, which was released on CD under the Lyrichord Label. She made her professional recital debut with the “Trinity at One Concert Series” in New York City, performing Jake Heggie's Rise and Fall song cycle. In addition, she gave a benefit song recital for the Philadelphia Music Maker's Magazine and was the featured soprano soloist in Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass with the University of Pennsylvania.

In the 2007-08 season, Ms. Davis sang the premiere of John Harbison's grand aria for soprano and piano, Vocalism, at SongFest in Malibu, California. As an avid song and lieder performer, she participated in SongFest for three summers, collaborating with American composers such as, Ricky Ian Gordon, Jake Heggie, John Harbison and James Primosch. She debuted at Carnegie Hall, performing in Barry Alexander's International Vocal Competition Winner's Recital. Her Kennedy Center debut came about through the Conservatory Project Series, representing Peabody Conservatory in a shared recital with pianist, Eric Zuber. For the Peabody Opera Theater, Ms. Davis debuted in the title role of Massenet's Cendrillon (Cinderella) and performed the role of Nannetta in Verdi's Falstaff. Other Peabody performances included the Der Rosenkavalier Suite with the Peabody Symphony, selections from Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn and Britten’s Les Illuminations with string orchestra.

While in Baltimore, she sang the Pergolesi Stabat Mater and Mendelssohn's St. Paul oratorio at Brown Memorial Park Presbyterian Church, where she was the soprano soloist. For two summers, she studied in the voice program of the Chautauqua Institution in New York, singing the roles of Anne Trulove in The Rake's Progress and Echo in Ariadne auf Naxos. While there, she also performed the Villa-Lobos Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 and appeared in recitals with pianists Brian Zeger and Mikael Eliasen. Ms. Davis spent three summers in Italy with Opera Lirica in Orvieto and the Daniel Ferro Program in Greve-in-Chianti, Tuscany.

Ms. Davis received a Master of Music degree from the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University and a Bachelor’s degree from Trinity University in San Antonio, TX.