ADA Artist Management & Representation

Biography

Lauded by the New York Times for her “emotional range,” and for her “plummy, nuanced mezzo” by Backstage, American Mezzo-soprano Sarah Heltzel made her Seattle Opera debut in 2005 as Siegrune and Flosshilde in their acclaimed Der Ring des Nibelungen. Ms. Heltzel spent much of the 2004-2006 seasons with Seattle, also singing Cherubino in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro and Miss Jessel in Britten’s Turn of the Screw, as a member of the Young Artist Program. She returns to sing Siegrune in Die Walküre and Flora in Verdi’s La traviata with the company in the 2009-2010 season. In the coming season, Ms. Heltzel also takes on Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus for Mississippi Opera.

Recent appearances include her critically acclaimed performance as the Marquise de Merteuil in Susa’s The Dangerous Liaisons with Dicapo Opera Theatre, the title role in Bizet’s Carmen with both Tacoma Opera and Skagit Opera, Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with the Boston Chamber Music Society, Respighi’s Il Tramonto with the Red Rocks Music Festival, and Brahms’ Liebeslieder Walzer for Music at Southhampton: “Sustainable Treasures.” With Chautauqua Opera she has sung Cherubino, and the Monitor in Puccini’s Suor Angelica. This past December Sarah sang Messiah with Seattle Symphony, where she previously appeared as the alto soloist in Janacek’s Glagolitic Mass in 2007.

Sarah made her concert debut at Alice Tully Hall with the New York Symphonic Ensemble as the 2003 recipient of the Panasonic Harmony Award and has since performed Verdi’s Requiem for the “Requiem for Darfur” benefit concert at Carnegie Hall. Additional concert engagements have included Mozart’s Coronation Mass and Handel’s Messiah; she has recently been a featured soloist with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, and with the Yakima Symphony Orchestra. Equally at home on the recital stage, Ms. Heltzel has performed numerous song recitals in the New York, Boston, and Seattle areas.

In previous seasons, Sarah sang Candy Mallow and the Squirrel Mistress in American Lyric Theater’s workshop of Peter Ash’s The Golden Ticket. She has also sung Mère Marie in Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites in Tel-Aviv with the Israel Vocal Arts Institute, and appeared as Giulietta in Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann, and as Charlotte in Massenet’s Werther with the International Institute of Vocal Arts in Italy. At Manhattan School of Music, she performed the roles of Hermia in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Zweite Dame in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, among others. Other credits include La Messaggiera in Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo and the title role of Offenbach’s The Grand Duchess of Gérolstein.

Sarah received a 2006 Apprentice Award from Chautauqua Opera, and was an encouragement grant recipient in the 2009 and 2005 Gerda Lissner Foundation competitions. She was a winner in the 2004 Sun Valley Opera Competition as well as the 2002 Palm Beach Opera Vocal Competition (Junior division). Sarah 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.