Moving effortlessly from Renaissance and Baroque classics to contemporary opera and “new music,” soprano Sarah Richards demonstrates an enviable command of multiple periods and genres.
She has recently performed the role of Un Bergère in Brooklyn Telemann Chamber Society’s film production of Rameau’s Phèdre: Hippolyte et Aricie set to release in January 2024 and Young Artist at Duke Chapel under the direction of Dr. Philip Cave, as well as the soprano soloist in Fauré’s Requiem in D Minor and Pergolesi’s challenging Stabat Mater. Ms. Richards has performed at the Virginia Ryan art exhibition and the OperAffinity Concerto Lirica Gala Concert in Todi, Italy and has received vocal coaching from Marie McLaughlin, Laetitia Ruccolo, Felice Venanzoni, and Eleonora Pacetti. This summer, Ms. Richards portrayed the roles of Drusilla/Virtù/Liberto in Claudio Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea at Miami Beach Classical Music Festival as well as performed André Campra’s cantata Enée et Didon at Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival’s Virginia Baroque Academy. Other operatic roles include La Musica in Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo and Amore/Damigella in another production of L’incoronazione di Poppea under the direction of Avi Stein and Sigrid T’Hooft. She has also sung the roles of Aldimira in Franceso Cavalli’s L’Erismena at Amherst Early Music Festival under the direction of Julianne Baird and Richard Stone and Euridice in a concert version of Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice at East End Song Studio. Ms. Richards also frequently performs newly composed works including Glenn Rudolph’s Children of the Seraphim and is a professional core member of the Bach Choir of Pittsburgh.
She also promotes the performance of sacred Baroque music as one of the founding members of the vocal trio Halcyon Voices. Based currently in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, Ms. Richards studied with Steven Rickards and Dana Marsh at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, where she earned her Master’s Degree in Early Music Voice.