ADA Artist Management & Representation

Biography

Lauded by The New York Times as “vocally striking and visually appealing,” and for her “plummy, nuanced mezzo” by Backstage, American mezzo-soprano Sarah Heltzel made her Seattle Opera debut as Siegrune and Flosshilde in their acclaimed Der Ring des Nibelungen.  Other performances with the company include a return last season for Siegrune in Die Walküre, Flora in La Traviata, and Despina in Così fan tutte as a guest with the Young Artists. Ms. Heltzel will return again for the company’s 2013 Ring Cycle.

Upcoming engagements in the 2011-12 season include role debuts of Suzuki in Madama Butterfly with Indianapolis Opera, Nevada Opera,  Opera on the James, and Syracuse Opera, as well as Der Komponist in Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos with dell’Arte Opera Ensemble and Winter Opera Saint Louis.

This past season included Dryade in Toledo Opera’s Ariadne auf Naxos, Desideria in Menotti’s The Saint of Bleecker Street with Dicapo Opera Theatre and the Mezzo soloist in Verdi’s Requiem with Back Bay Chorale in Boston, MA. Other appearances included Mississippi Opera’s “Passion and Fireworks” Gala, Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder and Corigliano’s Fern Hill with the Gordon College Symphony Orchestra, and a solo recital with pianist Milos Repicky at the Vicksburg Chamber Music Festival. A proponent of new music, she also participated as a guest artist in American Lyric Theater’s Composer-Librettist Development Program, and in ALT’s new one-act opera showcases The Poe Project and Opera in Eden, at Symphony Space in New York City.

Recent engagements for Ms. Heltzel include Prince Orlofsky in Mississippi Opera’s Die Fledermaus. the title role in Bizet’s Carmen with both Tacoma Opera and Skagit Opera, the Marquise de Merteuil in Susa’s The Dangerous Liaisons with Dicapo Opera Theatre, Handel’s  Messiah and Janacek’s Glagolitic Mass with Seattle Symphony, Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with the Boston Chamber Music Society, and Respighi’s Il Tramonto with the Red Rocks Music Festival. As a member of Seattle Opera’s Young Artist Program Ms. Heltzel appeared as Cherubino in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro and Miss Jessel in Britten’s Turn of the Screw, and with Chautauqua Opera she has sung Cherubino and the Monitor in Puccini’s Suor Angelica, and covered Erika in Barber’s Vanessa. Other roles performed include Hermia in Britten’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, Mère Marie in Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites, Charlotte in Werther, and the title role in Offenbach’s The Grand Duchess of Gérolstein. Equally at home on the recital stage, Ms. Heltzel has performed numerous song recitals in the New York, Boston, and Seattle areas.

Ms. Heltzel was a winner in the 2010 Liederkranz Opera Competition and was an encouragement grant recipient from the 2010 Career Bridges Competition, and the 2005, 2008 and 2009 Gerda Lissner Foundation Competitions. Ms. Heltzel received the 2006 Apprentice Award from Chautauqua Opera, and was a winner in the 2004 Sun Valley Opera Competition and the 2002 Palm Beach Opera Vocal Competition (Junior division). She also won the 2003 Panasonic Harmony Award, for which she made her concert debut at Alice Tully Hall with the New York Symphonic Ensemble, and was a Presser Scholar in 2000.  Ms. Heltzel holds a Bachelor of Music from Gordon College (MA), and both a Master of Music degree and a Professional Studies Certificate from Manhattan School of Music.