Sarah Joyce Cooper is a multi-award winning soprano known for her “passionate power” (Parterre Box) and “meltingly beautiful” (Opera News) singing. Highlights for the 2024-25 season include her debut with Seattle Opera as Minnie Tate in the world premiere of Tazewell Thompson’s Jubilee, the role of Tebaldo in Verdi’s Don Carlo with the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra, and the title role in James Kallembach’s American Jezebel:The Trial of Anne Hutchinson, a world premiere opera commissioned by Harvard University that tells the story of theologian, midwife, scholar, and co-founder of Rhode Island, Anne Hutchinson.

Recent performances include soloist appearances at Carnegie Hall in Poulenc’s Gloria, John Rutter’s Magnificat, and Margaret Bonds’ The Ballad of the Brown King with the New England Symphonic Ensemble; the roles of Eva and Gabriel in Haydn’s Creation with the MIT Concert Choir and Handel and Haydn Society Chamber Choir; and her debut with the Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra in Strauss’s Vier letzte Lieder. Operatic credits include Adina in L’Elisir d’amore (Geneva Light Opera), Juliette in Roméo et Juliette (Opera Western Reserve), Violetta in La Traviata (MassOpera), Clorinda in La Cenerentola (Syracuse Opera), La Charmeuse in Thaïs (Maryland Lyric Opera), Mimì in La Bohème (Opera Theater of Cape Cod/ Boston Opera Collaborative), Micaëla in Carmen (Prelude to Performance), Zerlina in Don Giovanni (Boston Opera Collaborative), and Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro (Savannah Voice Festival). Ms. Cooper has also appeared as a soloist with the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra, the Rochester Oratorio Society, and the Radcliffe Choral Society at Harvard University. In 2019, she was invited to perform as a soloist with the Du Bois Orchestra in the historic world premiere of Florence Price’s long-lost cantata, Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight.

As a competition winner, Ms. Cooper has received awards from the George London Foundation and Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and was nominated for a study grant from the Sarah Tucker Foundation. She earned first place in The American Prize Competition for Opera and Operetta and was named a winner of the 2022 Montpelier Classical Recital Competition. She later advanced to Round Two of the 2022-2023 Cardiff Singer of the World Competition. Most recently, she was awarded a 2024 Emerging Artist Award from the St. Botolph Club in Boston.

As a premed, Ms. Cooper completed her Bachelor’s Degree in French at Princeton University. She first began to develop the foundation for her “mastery of French style” (Opera News) while conducting research for her undergraduate thesis on sacred themes in the mélodies, romances, and cantiques of Gabriel Fauré. She earned her Master of Music Degree in Vocal Performance and Pedagogy from Westminster Choir College, where she received the Gwynn Moose Cornell Endowed Award, given to the student who shows the most promise for a career in vocal performance.

In addition to performing, Ms. Cooper serves as volunteer Executive Assistant for Help!ComeHome!, a nonprofit dedicated to meeting the needs of under-served communities throughout the US in Jesus’ Name. Ms. Cooper is a regular volunteer with the organization, offering both her musical and administrative skills to further its mission. In June 2018, she planned, programmed, and performed in A Nod to Our Neighbors, a benefit concert and the first major fundraiser for Help!ComeHome!

In her free time, Ms. Cooper enjoys gardening, playing cello, and being active outdoors. A former competitive gymnast, she was awarded top prizes at the annual Massachusetts State Championship meet while competing for the Gymnastics Academy of Boston.

Cover photo: Nile Scott Photography