Sarah Shafer
soprano
Praised by the Philadelphia Inquirer for her “crystalline sound, perfectly true intonation, glowing warmth, and total presence” and named “remarkable, artistically mature … a singer to watch” by Opera News, soprano Sarah Shafer actively appears on the leading operatic and concert stages of the world.
The 2018 – 2019 season will see Ms. Shafer make her house and role debut as Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro, directed by Stephen Lawless, with San Diego Opera as well as appearances with Harrisburg Symphony singing Poulenc’s Gloria and Villa-Lobos’ Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5, Carmina Burana with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra conducted by Francesco Lecce-Chong, Mahler Symphony No 2 with Toledo Symphony, Mozart Requiem with Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, St John’s Passion with Louisiana Philharmonic, and Shanan Estreicher’s Songs of Emily Dickinson with Chamber Orchestra of New York. Recital work includes appearances with Chamber Music Society of Detroit and Spivey Hall with Richard Goode, and with Richard Stoltzman and David Deveau, and Five Borough Music Festival with Martin Katz.
An avid recitalist and chamber musician, Ms. Shafer enjoys an active collaboration with legendary pianist Richard Goode, having recently performed Schumann and Brahms lieder at Carnegie Hall and Schubert’s Der Hirt auf dem Felsen with clarinetist Anthony McGill at the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society. She has also collaborated with such musicians as guitarist Jason Vieaux, and clarinetist Richard Stoltzman. Ms. Shafer was a resident artist at the Marlboro Music Festival for five summers, where she worked with Richard Goode, Mitsuko Uchida, Benita Valente, Sir Thomas Allen, and Martin Isepp. She actively appears with Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago, Grand Junction Symphony Orchestra’s chamber music series, the Mozart and Handel Académie européenne de musique in Aix-en-Provence, Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival France, the Bard Summer Music Festival, the Liszt Academy in Budapest, Hungary, and was named a winner of the 2014 Astral Artists National Auditions.
A recent graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, Ms. Shafer’s credits for Curtis Opera Theatre include over 20 productions and a variety of roles such as Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Almirena in Rinaldo, Giulietta in I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Elizabeth Zimmer in Henze’s Elegy for Young Lovers, Ilia in Idomeneo, Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Sofia in Il Signor Bruschino, and Mélisande in Impressions of Pelléas. Most recently, she sang the role of Sister Constance in Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites.
A native of State College, PA, Ms. Shafer is currently based in Philadelphia.