Mezzo-Soprano
Sarah Winn
Biography
Mezzo-soprano Sarah Winn, was a young artist with the National Opera Studio for 2024/2025, working and performing in company residencies with Glyndebourne, Scottish Opera, Welsh National Opera and Opera North. She recently performed the role of Ino in Handel’s Semele with Waterperry Opera Festival.
Sarah completed her studies as a scholarship student at the Royal Northern College of Music. Under the expert tutelage of teacher and performer Hilary Summers, she earned both a Postgraduate Diploma and a Master of Music with distinction. During her studies Sarah was awarded the Annie Ridyard Award, the Chris Petty English Song Prize, and the Leverhulme Trust Scholarship. She further distinguished herself as a finalist in both the Frederic Cox Prize and The Joyce and Michael Kennedy Award for the Singing of Strauss.
Originally hailing from Johannesburg in South Africa, Sarah's musical interests took her across continents to pursue her Bachelor of Music degree at the Queensland Conservatorium in Brisbane Australia. During her time there, Sarah was celebrated with the Linda Edith Allen Award for achieving the highest performance grade in her year level, as well as the Doreen Ord & Lyceum Club Prize for Classical Voice.
Sarah finds immense fulfillment in bringing unique and comedic characters to life on stage, relishing the playful and unconventional aspects of these roles. Her repertoire includes The Composer Ariadne auf Naxos, Béatrice Berlioz’s Beatrice et Bénédict, Prince Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus,
The Chinese Cup and The Dragonfly Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges, Julia Bertram in Jonathan Dove’s Mansfield Park and Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro.
Additionally, Sarah has delighted in opportunities to perform with various choral societies and orchestras across the UK. Her concert repertoire includes Elgar’s Coronation Ode and The Music Makers (Altrincham Choral Society), Vivaldi’s Gloria (Todmorden Choral Society and Orchestra), Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 (Nottingham Philharmonic Orchestra) and Songs of Wayfarer (Manchester Beethoven Orchestra), Mendelssohn’s Walpurgisnacht (York Guildhall Orchestra), Handel’s Messiah (Todmorden Choral Society and Orchestra, Altrincham Choral Society and Orchestra, Brisbane Symphony Orchestra), and Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 (York Guildhall Orchestra).
Throughout her studies, Sarah has taken part in numerous workshops and masterclasses, further honing her coachable skills and expanding her repertoire. She has participated in audience-attended sessions with renowned mentors such as Ann Murray, Amanda Roocroft, David Owen Norris, Lisa Gasteen and Susan Bullock. A lover of new music, Sarah made her Wigmore Hall debut premiering the evocative Brontë Songs by composer David Horne for voice and ensemble.
