mezzo-soprano

Mezzo-soprano Sarah Best comes from a diverse background in performance and teaching artistry. Her versatility within her field has allowed her to garner a career involving various creative projects, educational and performance-based, with organizations throughout the United States including: The American Symphony Orchestra, Ash Lawn Opera, Bard Music Festival, The Daraja Ensemble, Inscape Chamber Orchestra, The Light Opera of NY, The Los Angeles Operetta Foundation, The Luzerne Music Center, The Maryland Opera Studio, The Metropolitan Opera Guild, The New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players, The Ohio Light Opera, Opéra Louisiane, Roundabout Theatre Company, and The Virginia Consort.

 

Known for her comic timing and her rapport with the audience, Best's range of stage experience branches out from the traditional opera canon and sacred music performance into contemporary concert works and includes a vast repertoire from the American musical theatre tradition. Recent roles have included: Marian Paroo (The Music Man), Orfeo (Orfeo ed Euridice), Guenevere (Camelot), Lilli Vanessi (Kiss Me, Kate), Lucretia (The Rape of Lucretia), Venus (One Touch of Venus), Pistache (Can-Can) and Mad Margaret (Ruddigore). 2018 included performances of Madame de Croissy (Dialogues des Carmélites), Gladys Hotchkiss (The Pajama Game), Billie (Babes in Arms), and the title role in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Iolanthe. 2019 will offer Best her debut with St. Petersburg Opera, as Hattie (Kiss Me, Kate). Currently pursuing her D.M.A. in Voice Performance from the University of Michigan, Best is also a graduate of the Maryland Opera Studio at the University of Maryland (M.M.) and Mansfield University of Pennsylvania (B.M). She continues her work as a performer, staunch performing arts education advocate, and a creative freelance professional in communities across the Northeastern United States.