Sarah Gardner’s (soprano) portrayal of the title role in Puccini’s Suor Angelica was noted for its “sunlit soprano and poignant phrasing” by Donald Rosenberg of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.  Ms. Gardner currently resides in Northeast Pennsylvania where she studies with Sharon Sweet in Princeton, NJ.  Her opera credits also include Lady Billows (Albert Herring), Mother (Hansel and Gretel) and 1st Lady (Die Zauberflöte), and scenes as Leonora (La forza del destino), Salome (Hérodiade), Leonore (Fidelio), Tosca (Tosca), Magda (The Consul), Abigail Williams (The Crucible) and Alice Ford (Falstaff).  Ms. Gardner most recently took 2nd place in the Columbus Italian-American Vocal Competition and 1st place at the 2009 Buckeye Chapter of the NATS competition, where she also won the Richard Miller Award for Fine Singing.  Mr. Miller asked that when choosing the recipient of this award that, “the goal should be to strive for musicianship, technique, and artistry.  The Buckeye NATS award is chosen on a proper balance among these essential areas.”

Ms. Gardner was the winner of the 2008 Akron Symphony Orchestra Chorus Competition and also took 2nd place in the 2009 Great Lakes Regional NATS competition in the advanced men and women category featuring singers from Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, and Ontario, Canada.  She completed her Master of Music degree in 2009 at the Cleveland Institute of Music under the tutelage of Mary Schiller and her Bachelor of Music in 2006, having studied at both the New England Conservatory of Music and Georgia State University under both Sharon Stephenson and Mark Pearson.