About
American soprano Sarah Nalty is noted for her adventurous and versatile performances, having performed opera and art song spanning the Renaissance to the 21st century, and in over a dozen languages. Her recent highlights include covering the title role in Rusalka with New Jersey Opera Theater, Stella (cover) in Viardot’s Le dernier sorcier with Bard Music Festival, Soprano soloist in Britten’s Les Illuminations with Euterpe Ensemble, and William F. Buckley in a work-in-progress performance of Jeffrey Lependorf’s opera American Terror at Hudson Hall.
From 2022-24, Sarah was a member of the Graduate Vocal Arts Program at Bard Conservatory. While a student there, her operatic repertoire included Rosa in Rumshinsky’s Yiddish operetta Shir Hashirim (with YIVO Institute for Jewish Research), Minerve in Offenbach’s Orphée aux enfers, and scenes performances as Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni) and Marschallin (Die Rosenkavalier). She also appeared in concert in Kurtág’s Messages of the Late Miss R.V. Troussova and Saariaho’s From the Grammar of Dreams, both part of the school’s annual Kurtág Festival. In 2023, she was a finalist in the Graduate Concerto Competition, singing Britten’s Les Illuminations at the Fisher Center for the Performing Arts. She closed her time at Bard with a full-length recital featuring Fauré’s La bonne chanson and Bartók’s Dedinské scény, with pianist Gabrielė Žemaitytė.
Other career highlights include a residency at the Berkeley-Bucknell Chamber Music Collective Festival in 2023, where she sang Lieder by Fanny Mendelssohn and scenes from Le nozze di Figaro (Contessa), all with period instruments. In 2021, she performed Elle in La voix humaine at New England Conservatory, as part of an outdoor socially-distanced performance on the steps of Jordan Hall.
An avid recitalist, Sarah has performed numerous Liederabende in the Hudson Valley, Boston, Ann Arbor, and Graz, Austria. While attending the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, she was awarded the prestigious Harold Heiberg Liedersänger Preis for her performances of German Lieder. She was also a semi-finalist in the 2024 Federation of the Art Song Fellowship Competition with pianist Gabrielė Žemaitytė. Sarah has a particular affinity for Eastern European repertoire, and often performs underperformed works from Czech, Polish, and Ukrainian composers such as Vítězslava Kaprálová, Grażyna Bacewicz, and Yakiv Stepovyi.
Born in Silver Spring, Maryland, Sarah grew up singing with the Peabody Children’s Chorus, with whom she sang numerous performances with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra under Marin Alsop. She credits these experiences with affirming her love of singing and classical music. She holds a Bachelor’s of Music from New England Conservatory and a Master’s from Bard College, where she studied with Stephanie Blythe and Kayo Iwama. She is currently based in Astoria, Queens and studies with Bryce McClendon.
Selected Credits
Opera (* - scenes)
Rusalka (cover) Rusalka New Jersey Opera Theater
William F. Buckley American Terror (in concert) Hudson Hall
Stella (cover) Le dernier sorcier Bard Music Festival
*Donna Elvira Don Giovanni Bard Conservatory
Minerve Orphée aux enfers Bard Conservatory
Rosa Shir Hashirim (in concert) YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
*Contessa Le nozze di Figaro BB Chamber Music Collective Festival
*Marschallin Der Rosenkavalier Bard Conservatory
Elle La voix humaine New England Conservatory
*Norina Don Pasquale New England Conservatory
*Stasi Die Csárdásfürstin AIMS, Graz
Concert / Oratorio
Britten Les Illuminations Bard, Euterpe Ensemble
Saariaho From the Grammar of Dreams Bard, Kurtág Festival
Pergolesi Stabat Mater Bard Conservatory
Various Vocal Chamber Music Bard Conservatory
Kagel Der Turm zu Babel Bard Conservatory
Weill Weimar Cabaret Bard, Fisher Center for the Performing Arts
Liederabend / Recital
Grieg: Sechs Lieder West Side United Methodist Church, Ann Arbor, MI
Bartók, Fauré, Schwantner, Sibelius, Bard Conservatory
Vuillermoz, Zemlinsky
Gelbart, Harbison, Ives, Clarke, Visitors, Old Dutch Church, Kingston, NY
Crawford Seeger, Weiner
Fanny Mendelssohn BB Chamber Music Collective Festival, Lewisburg, PA
Lysenko, Stetsenko, Stepovyi Bard Conservatory
Loewe Beattie-Powers House, Catskill, NY
Strozzi, Poulenc, Ives, Schubert New England Conservatory
R. Schumann New England Conservatory
Jensen, Schubert, Wolf, Schoenberg AIMS, Graz
Kaprálová, Rimsky-Korsakov, Strauss New England Conservatory
