Sarah Wolfson
Style: Pop; Opera; Jazz; Folk; Gospel; Rock; Classical; Musical Theatre
Title: Soprano/Associate Prof.
Bio: Lyric Soprano Sarah Wolfson has already demonstrated a remarkable ability to communicate with an audience, whether in recital or on the operatic stage. The New York Times called her “a keenly intelligent artist…[she sings] with luminous sound and impressively focused high notes”. In 2011 she was recognized by Symphony Magazine as an Emerging Artist. In 2007 she was awarded the 1st Place Prize (Victor and Sono Elmaleh Award) in The Concert Artists Guild Competition. Under CAG she receives recital and concert management, as well as the opportunity to commission new works through the BMI Foundation Commissioning Prize and record on the Naxos Label. Through CAG she made her Weill Hall solo recital debut in January 2009. This season (2013/2014) will see Ms. Wolfson performing recitals in South Carolina with pianist Renate Rohlfing, soloist for Brahms Requiem with Symphony of Northwest Arkansas, and a performance of the complete Bolcom Cabaret Songs with pianist Lydia Brown and directed by Robin Guarino. She will also continue to be an Associate Professor at Columbia University where she teaches vocal performance through the Music Performance Program. For 2012/2013 Ms. Wolfson performed a combination of recitals, oratorio, and opera. She was the soprano soloist for the Beethoven 9th with Symphony of Northwest Arkansas, as well as the Fauré Requiem with the Bangor Symphony Orchestra. In addition to performing with New York Festival of Song (NYFOS) as part of its Next series, Ms. Wolfson also appeared at the Market Square Concerts in Pennsylvania where she sang the world premieres of song cycles by Jeremy Gill, Jake Heggie, and Paul Moravec. In addition to a number of recitals, Ms. Wolfson made a triumphal return to the opera stage performing in the world premiere of Jetzt by Mathis Nitchke, and singing Rose in Elliott Carter's What Next at Opéra de Montpellier. She was hailed by ResMusica: "[As Rose] the American soprano Sarah Wolfson prevails by far, her performance possessing the exuberance, the color, and the sensuality required for the part." She was the soprano soloist for The National Chorale Messiah Sing Along at Lincoln Center at Avery Fischer Hall. She sang recitals at Pittsburg State University, as well as presenting a masterclass there, The German Forum at Bruno Walter Auditorium, Cold Spring Harbor, Brookhaven National Laboratory, East Meadow. She also embarked on the first of Concert Artists Guild's Open Songbook concert series. Ms. Wolfson sang a program of American cabaret composers with baritone Mischa Bouvier and pianist Yegor Shevtsov. In past seasons Ms. Wolfson presented a number of recitals and concerts including four recitals as part of Miller Theater's Lunchtime Concert Series. As part of a series that featured all American composers she presented works by Barber, Copland, and Ives. The New York Times praised her for her "Glowing account of Barber's Hermit Songs”. Ms. Wolfson performed an all Kurt Weill cabaret program titled "Foolish Heart: Kurt Weill's Search for Love and Home from Berlin to Broadway" in New York City at the Neue Galerie's Cafe Sabarsky with pianist Ji Young Lee and directed by award winning cabaret artist Kim Smith. In addition she sang solo recitals in Florida, Virginia, and, Arkansas. She performed Schumann at Symphony Space as part of Simply Schumann, and was invited to sing Der Hirt auf dem Felsen with Antares Ensemble as part of The Newtown, CT Chamber Music Series and was hailed by The Connecticut News-Times for her “powerful [and] evocative voice…total control of her lyric soprano voice…[and] vibrant vocals”. Ms. Wolfson was a soloist in the Bach B Minor Mass with American Symphony Orchestra as part of the Symphony Space Wall to Wall Bach. She performed works by Dowland, Scarlatti, Grainger, Berio, and Jobim with fellow CAG roster artists, The Brazil Guitar Duo with The Chautauqua Chamber Music Festival and The Cooperstown Chamber Music Festival. In addition Ms. Wolfson has given various recitals around the country including The German Cultural Institute of St. Louis, The Rockport Chamber Music Festival, and The Little Rock Chamber Music Society where the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette wrote that she “swept the audience away… as good an actress as she is a singer, she got her message across”. An avid performer of new music, she recently made her Zankel Hall debut performing the world premiere of Jonathan Dawe's Oveture and Ballet Music from Armide with American Composers Orchestra. She also created the role of Celia in the world premiere of John Musto’s Volpone, a comic opera based on the 16th-century Ben Johnson satirical play of the same title, commissioned and presented by the Wolf Trap Opera Company. Making her Off-Broadway debut, Ms. Wolfson created the role of Jane/Aeola in The New Group’s world premiere production of Wallace and Allen Shawn’s play/opera, The Music Teacher. She also recorded the opera for Bridge Records. She has performed the Berio Folk Songs with the Cincinnati Chamber Symphony, and at The Italian Academy in New York City. That concert also included the Berio Sequenza III, Berio Folk Songs with the critically acclaimed Axiom Ensemble conducted by Jeffrey Milarsky, and a newly commissioned song cycle by Carl Bettendorf. Other engagements include making her Lincoln Center recital debut as the winner of the Juilliard Vocal Arts Alice Tully Hall Debut Competition, as well as recitals at the Miami Museum of Contemporary Art, the Austrian Embassy in Washington, DC as part of the Embassy Series, and the Vocal Arts Society Discovery Series also in DC. She has sung with various opera companies and music festival including The Santa Fe Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Aspen Opera Theater, Opera North, Gotham Chamber Opera, Kentucky Opera, Bowdoin Music Festival, Brevard Music Festival, Spoleto Festival USA, La Jolla Summerfest. Roles include Euridice in Poppea in L’incoronazione di Poppea, Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Rose in Street Scene, Anne in Sondheim’s A Little Night Music, Sidonie/Lucinde in Gluck’s Armide, Crobyle in Thais, Lucy in Menotti’s The Telephone, Jenny Reefer in The Mother of Us All, Micaela in La Tragédie de Carmen, Despina in Cosi fan tutte, Celia in Musto's Volpone, and Rose in Carter's What Next?. Ms. Wolfson is a graduate of the Juilliard School (BM and MM) where she received the William Schuman Prize for Outstanding Achievement and Leadership in Music, the highest award given to a graduate student. She was featured on the PBS American Masters documentary The Juilliard Experience. As a recipient of a Lucrezia Bori Grant for study abroad from Juilliard, Ms. Wolfson was able to study in Salzburg, Austria, where she performed recitals at The Sacellum and Schloss Leopoldskron. She has participated in the Steans Institute for Young Artists at The Ravinia Festival, Wolf Trap Young Artist Program, and Florida Grand Opera Young Artists Program Ms. Wolfson is currently on the faculty of Columbia University where she teaches vocal performance, as well as private voice students. She has had the opportunity to conduct masterclasses for young singers across the country, including at Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, KS, Philander Smith College in Little Rock, AK and The Levine School of Music in Washington, DC. She has sat on a number of juries including The Mondavi Center Young Artist Competition and The Columbia University Concerto Competition. She is also a member of Sing for Hope, a non-profit organization that facilitates the connection between artists and charities providing a network of support. In addition Ms. Wolfson is a certified yoga teacher (RYT) and received her training from Tias and Surya Little in Santa Fe, NM through Prajna Yoga.
Voice Type: Soprano
Music Styles Taught: Pop; Opera; Jazz; Folk; Gospel; Rock; Classical; Musical Theatre
Availability: I am available as a performer; I am currently accepting private students; I am available as a clinician or presenter; I accept students through a college or university program
