American soprano Sara Heaton, praised for her “gleaming lyricism” by Opera News Online and her “sweet, pure soprano” by the Chicago Tribune, enjoys a rich career on the opera and concert stage. She has performed with The Metropolitan Opera, The Santa Fe Opera, Chicago Opera Theater, Opera Boston, Boston Baroque, Odyssey Opera, American Opera Projects, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Boston Midsummer Opera, Opera in the Heights, the Xalapa Orchestra, The Greater Bridgeport Symphony, The Santa Fe Symphony, Symphony by the Sea, North Country Chamber Players, and Walden Chamber Players, among others.
Sara made her Metropolitan Opera solo debut in the lauded 2018 production of Cendrillon as a Spirit and Servant. Other noteworthy performances include the title role in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Patience and Celia in Mozart’s Lucio Silla, both with Odyssey Opera and conductor Gil Rose, Strauss’ Four Last Songs with the Xalapa Orchestra and guest conductor Donald Palma, a role debut as Violetta in La Traviata with Opera in the Heights in Houston and conductor Enrique Carreón-Robledo, a Symphony Hall debut as Papagena with the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra and Federico Cortese, and singing Amore on the Grammy-nominated recording of Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria with Martin Pearlman and Boston Baroque.
A deft interpreter of new music, Sara has sung in several premieres, most notably as Miranda in the US premiere of Tod Machover’s Death and the Powers for which she was praised for her “daunting power and agility in the stratospheric notes of her final scene,” and was singled out as giving “the finest performance of the evening.” Other new music performances include the role of Tsering with American Opera Projects in excerpts from Numinous City by Pete Wyer, Lidochka in Shostakovich’s Moscow, Cheryomushki with Chicago Opera Theater, and Jenifer in Tippett’s Midsummer Marriage with Boston Modern Orchestra Project.
Sara took first place prize in the Marie Kraja International Singing Competition in Albania, and 2nd place prize in the Young Patronesses of the Opera Competition. She has received the Richard F. Gold Career Grant from the Shoshana Foundation, was a regional finalist in the Metropolitan Opera competition, a finalist in the Giulio Gari Competition, received an Encouragement Grant from the Schuyler Foundation for Career Bridges, and was a semi-finalist in the Competizione dell’Opera in Germany. She is currently a member of The Metropolitan Opera Chorus.