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The American contralto, Sara Dickinson Couden, obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree with Honors in Literature from the University of California, Santa Cruz (2006); her Master of Aarts degree in English from the San Francisco State University (2009); her Master of Music with Honors in Opera from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (2011); and her Artist Diploma in Early Music, Chamber Music, and Oratorio from the Yale Institute of Sacred Music (2014). She has also participted in the programs: Fellow at Institute for Young Dramatic Voices (2010-2011); Young Artist at Music Academy of the West (2011-2014); Fellow at Music@Menlo (2016, 2018); Resident Artist at Marlboro Music Festival (2016-2019); Young Artist at Lindemann Young Artist Development Program (2014-2017); Young Artist at American Bach Soloists Academy (2021).
Praised for her "unusually rich and resonant voice" (Opera News), contralto Sara Couden is a premiere interpreter of operatic, chamber, and song repertoire. In past seasons, she made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Albine in Thäis (2017) and covered Erste Magd in Elektra (2016 & 2018). She toured Japan with Maestro Masaaki Suzuki in J.S. Bach's B Minor Mass (BWV 232), performed Third Lady in W.A. Mozart's Die Zauberflöte with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra (2017), Dryad in Ariadne auf Naxos and Penelope in Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria with West Edge Opera (2015), and sang "Urlicht" as the alto soloist in Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 2 with the Santa Cruz Symphony (2018).
Highlights of 2018 included a return to Carnegie Hall as the alto soloist in Sir Karl Jenkins' Stabat Mater, Dejanira in George Frideric Handel's Hercules at the Staunton Music Festival, Testo in Stradella's La Susanna with Heartbeat Opera / Opera Lafayette, J.S. Bach cantatas at the Philadelphia Chamber Music Series, Dmitri Shostakovich's From Jewish Folk Poetry with the Chamber Music Series at Lincoln Center, J.S. Bach's St. Matthew Passion (BWV 244) with True Concord Voices and Orchestra, and a return to the Met to cover Marta / Pantalis in Mefistofele.
Her 2019 season included company debuts with Winter Opera St. Louis as Ruth in Pirates of Penzance, Ars Minerva as Ormondo/Clorindo in Ermelinda, and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra as Israelitish Man in G.F. Handel's Judas Maccabaeus, as well as a return to Staunton Music Festival as Irene in Theodora. In 2020 she sang for the first time with the Philadelphia Orchestra as Mother/Cup/Dragonfly in L'enfant et les sortileges. Her scheduled 2020 debuts with San Francisco Opera as Rita in The Handmaid's Tale and Seattle Symphony Orchestra in G.F. Handel's Messiah were unfortunately canceled due to COVID.
In 2021, Sara Couden will debut with Portland Baroque Orchestra in a program of early Italian music, tour Igor Stravinsky's Three Songs from William Shakespeare and Sofia Gubaidulina's Ein Engel with Musicians from Marlboro, sing Junon in Platee in a Mark Morris Dance Group and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra co-production, and perform G. Mahler's Kindertotenlieder at the Staunton Music Festival. |
