Sasha Cooke, mezzo-soprano

Mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke won First Prize in the 2007 Young Concert Artists International Auditions.  She makes her Washington, DC debut in the Young Concert Artists Series at the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater in September and her New York debut at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall in October.  Ms. Cooke is a member of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program of the Metropolitan Opera.

During the 2007-2008 season Ms. Cooke performs with the Metropolitan Opera Chamber Orchestra and James Levine at Carnegie Hall and appears at the Metropolitan Opera as the Sandman in Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel, the Second Priestess in Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride, and the Third Madrigal Singer in Puccini’s Manon Lescaut.  She performs as soloist with Orchestra New England and appears at the Bard Music Festival, Buffalo Chamber Music Society, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the University of Georgia, and the National Museum of Women in the Arts (DC). 

At the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, Ms. Cooke was also honored with the Rhoda Walker Teagle Prize, which sponsors her New York debut; the Fergus First Prize; the Swiss Global Artistic Foundation Award, which includes a concert engagement in Europe; and the Embassy Series Prize (Washington, DC).  She holds the Lindemann Vocal Chair of Young Concert Artists.

During the summer of 2007, Ms. Cooke attended the Wolf Trap Opera Studio, appearing with the National Symphony Orchestra as Mercedes in a concert performance of Bizet’s Carmen, as Aloës in Chabrier’s L’Étoile, and in a recital program entitled “Manhattan Diaries” hosted by Steven Blier. Her other notable performances included Handel’s Messiah and Mozart’s Vespers at Carnegie Hall with the Oratorio Society of New York, Chausson’s Poème de l’amour et de la mer at Miller Theater, New York Festival of Song’s “Brava Italia!” concert at Weill Hall, the Marilyn Horne Foundation’s 2007 Gala at Zankel Hall, and Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky with the Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra (TX).

Ms. Cooke won First Prize in the 2006 Bach Vocal Competition sponsored by the American Bach Society and The Bach Choir of Bethlehem, and Third Prize in the 2006 Licia Albanese-Puccini Competition. Ms. Cooke received her Bachelor’s Degree from Rice University and her Master’s Degree from The Juilliard School.