Sara Beth Pearson

American soprano Sara Beth Pearson made her solo debut with The Metropolitan Opera in its 2012 production of Manon, part of The Met: Live in HD series. She was subsequently invited to return as a soloist in La Rondine and Les Dialogues des Carmelites. Ms. Pearson was featured in the inaugural season of the Maryland Lyric Opera as Nedda in Pagliacci, and debuted her Mimì as part of Crested Butte Music Festival’s production of La Bohème. 2015 marked her European debut, in the title role of Puccini’s Suor Angelica at the Trentino Music Festival in Italy. Most recently, she performed the roles of Cio-Cio-San in New Rochelle Opera’s semi-staged Madama Butterfly highlights, and Nella in Gianni Schicchi with On Site Opera, and featured a signature aria, Vieni t’affretta as the Second Soprano in Terence McNally’s play Master Class at The CENTER for Performing Arts at Rhinebeck. Next, she returns to New Rochelle Opera as Magnolia Hawkes in a concert Showboat

Ms. Pearson’s recent appearances include Salomé in Hérodiade with the New Amsterdam Opera, Micaëla in the Miami Lyric Opera production of Carmen, Leonora in La Forza del destino with New Amsterdam Opera, Leonora in Il Trovatore with New Rochelle Opera and Lia in Debussy’s L’enfant Prodigue with the Lyric Opera of Baltimore. A graduate of the Peabody Conservatory, Ms. Pearson was a frequent soloist with Baltimore Opera, Annapolis Opera and Washington National Opera. Upon her arrival in NYC, she became a resident artist with Dicapo Opera, where she performed the role of Lucy Perez in Pasatieri’s Hotel Casablanca, and covered the title roles of Tobias Picker’s Emmeline, and Madama Butterfly. Additional roles in repertoire include the title roles of Tosca and Floyd’s Susannah, Anna in Puccini’s Le Villi, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, and Paolina in Donizetti’s Poliuto.

On the concert stage, Ms. Pearson has performed Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Allentown Symphony Orchestra, Ravel’s Shéhérazade with the Adelphi Orchestra, Mozart’s Exultate Jubilate with the Bergen Sinfonia, Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with The Baltimore Sinfonietta, and Mendelssohn’s Wer nur den lieben Gott läßt Walden and “Hear My Prayer” with the Prince George’s Choral Society. She has appeared in operatic and operetta concerts with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic, the Bergen Sinfonia Orchestra, the Annapolis Symphony, Annapolis Choral Society, and Maryland Concert Opera. Ms. Pearson is highly sought after as an entertainer and recitalist, and has dazzled audiences in numerous exclusive events throughout the United States and Europe. Memorably, she was honored to perform at a private mass and reception for Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

During the pandemic year Sara Beth Pearson participated in the audio-visual production The Vaccine in New York City, virtual Christmas Concert produced by Spotlight Production, a recital for the Blue Trolley Festival, and – upcoming – in the live concert at the Blue Trolley Festival, Deerpark, New York State.

EDUCATION:

  • Peabody Conservatory of Music, Graduate Performance Diploma, Voice 
  • Roles: Micaëla, Cathleen (Riders to the Sea), Sorceress/Spirit (Dido and Aeneas)  
  • Alderson-Broaddus College, BA Applied Music, Voice, Magna Cum Laude 
  • Roles: Angelina (Trial by Jury), Opera scenes: Mimì, Rosalinda  

AWARDS:

  • Third Prize, Concurso International de Canto Lirico, Trujillo, Peru 2016  
  • Finalist, New Jersey Verismo Opera Competition, 2015  
  • First Prize, Elaine Malbin and Mario Lanza Vocal Competition, 2010  
  • Finalist, Altamura Caruso International Opera Competition, 2008  
  • Semi-Finalist, Leyla Gencer International Voice Competition, 2008.

SARA PEARSON – Stridono lassu, Pagliacci by Leoncavallo