about

Sarah Welden is an American soprano newly based in Boston, MA. Sarah recently received her MM in Musical Theatre and Opera Performance at Arizona State University, where she took part in mainstage productions as well as collaborations with local composers. At ASU, Sarah’s roles included Genovieffa Suor Angelica, Atalanta in Handel’s Xerxes, and a soloist in Bernstein’s Mass. She was also involved in various new works readings and premieres, collaborating with composers such as Laura Kaminsky and Carmel Dean. Sarah also worked as a soloist with the Arizona Contemporary Music Ensemble, performing works such as Boulez’s Improvisation sur Mallarmé and Stockhausen’s Tierkreis. Sarah was also chosen as the 2019 recipient of the Warren Hoffer Art Song Award.

Before moving to Phoenix, Sarah worked as an apprentice artist with Opera Ithaca and frequent soloist with the Ithaca New Music Collective. Sarah performed roles including Soprano in Opera Ithaca’s production of Missy Mazzoli’s Song from the Uproar, Bessie in the US premiere of David Rhymer’s Songs from Nightingale Alley, and Josephine in Precious Nonsense with Auburn Public Theatre, where she was described as a “pert ingenue” (Syracuse.com) and was praised for her “clear enjoyment of the show” (The Citizen). Sarah also covered the role of Cunegonde in Candide with the Cornell Savoyards, and stepped on to perform the role on opening night, where “in true bel canto fashion [she took] her voice to soaring places as she [interwove] the tragedy of her sexual violation with the farce of her weakness for shiny expensive objects” (The Cornell Daily Sun). As an apprentice artist, Sarah also covered many roles including Mabel in Pirates of Penzance, Blondchen in Abduction from the Seraglio, and Clorinda in La Cenerentola. Sarah was also an active advocate for contemporary music and underrepresented composers in Ithaca, premiering and performing new works including opera, musical theatre, cabaret, art song, and sprechstimme.