About
American soprano Sara Tillett is thrilled to portray Frasquita in Art City Opera’s upcoming performance of Carmen this May. Additional role and concert announcements coming soon!
Sara’s recent engagements include the world premiere of Michael McAndrew’s song cycle, Ghostly Sentiments, as part of the 2025 Philadelphia Fringe Festival. Last year, Sara made two company and role debuts with Village Opera, singing in the chorus and covering Marguerite in Faust, and with Delaware Valley Opera Company as Mrs. Gobineau in The Medium, directed by Josh Miller. Sara was a Young Artist with Liberty City Arts, during which time she performed in their Lieder in the Liberties concert series. Sara has appeared as Annina in La Traviata and Adina in L’elisir d’amore with NJ Lyric Opera.
Sara’s concert work features many world premieres, including Double by Michael McAndrew, Bee by Seolhee “Snow” Kim, My Lady Sweet Arise by Nathan Scalise, and a choral work, Duo, by Mohammed Fairouz. In 2022, she was a soprano soloist in Ralph Vaughan Williams’s Dona Nobis Pacem with the US Army War College and Dickinson College for a two-week symposium on War, Justice, and Peace. Additional solo features include Boldemann’s Four Epitaphs, Bach’s Mein Herze schwimmt im Blut & Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht, Vivaldi’s Gloria in D Major, Dvořák’s Mass in D Minor, and Rutter’s Magnificat.
Sara is a graduate of Mannes School of Music at The New School, where she earned her Artist Diploma in opera performance, studying with Beth Roberts and Joshua Greene. Notable engagements with the opera studio include Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro and Zerlina in Don Giovanni. During Mannes’ opera scenes program, Sara performed as Contessa di Folleville in Il viaggio a Reims and as Manon in Manon. She also performed selections from Smetana’s Prodaná nevěsta (The Bartered Bride) and as a collaborative soloist with the Czech folk band, Spirituál Kvintet, at Bohemian National Hall during Mannes Sounds Festival in New York City.
Sara earned her Bachelor of Arts from Dickinson College and her Master of Music in opera performance from Binghamton University, where she performed the role of Belinda in Dido and Aeneas and scenes as Sœur Constance (Dialogues des Carmélites) and Adele (Die Fledermaus). As part of her graduate degree requirements, she performed professionally with Tri-Cities Opera in La Boheme, Madame Butterfly, and Suor Angelica. During her graduate studies, she attended AIMS in Graz and Utah Valley OperaFest, where she made her operatic debut as Despina in Così Fan Tutte.
Sara was a semi-finalist in the Mildred Miller International Vocal Competition, a finalist at the CS Vocal Competition, and a Winner of the Eastern Region NATS competition. In addition to performing, Sara has dedicated time to learning languages and speaks French, English, and Italian. She currently studies with Jack Li Vigni (Curtis Institute of Music & Jette Parker Artists Programme) and Ting Ting Wong (Curtis Institute of Music & Academy of Vocal Arts) in Philadelphia.