Soprano Sarah Berger has performed solo and chamber repertoire ranging from Heinrich Schütz to Joel Thompson with ensembles including Baltimore Choral Arts Society, Thomas Circle Singers, Handel Choir of Baltimore, Concert Artists of Baltimore, Washington Bach Consort, Hopkins Symphony Orchestra, Lincoln’s Symphony Orchestra, Hood College Choir, the Bach Sinfonia, Baltimore Masterworks Chorale, Orchestra of the 17th Century, Oxford University Chorus, Oxford Kodaly Choir, Merton College Opera, and the chamber ensembles S’Amusant, Stylus Luxurians, Antares Musicians, and Ceciliana Quartet.
Appearances in the 2022-2023 season have included recitals with soprano Brooke Evers and pianist Lester Green at the Our Lady of the Angels concert series at Charlestown in Baltimore and a full season as a Vocal Fellow with the Baltimore Choral Arts Society. During the cessation of most public performance from 2020-2022, Ms. Berger remained active as a soloist and choral singer in performances produced for web streaming and broadcast. With Handel Choir of Baltimore under the direction of Brian Bartoldus, she was soprano soloist in their annual performance of Messiah and with the Baltimore Choral Arts Off-the-Grid series under the direction of Anthony Blake Clark, featured as a soloist in G. F. Handel’s Foundling Hospital Anthem, Craig Hella Johnson’s “Meet Me Here,” from Considering Matthew Shepard, and Paul Mealor’s “Wherever You Are.”
Ms. Berger’s recent seasons have included solo appearances with the Baltimore Choral Arts Society in Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610, Brahms Requiem, Handel’s Messiah and Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms; with the Thomas Circle Singers under the direction of James Kreger in James Whitbourn’s Annelies, Rick Sowash’s The Harvest of a Quiet Eye, and John Rutter’s Requiem; and with Handel Choir of Baltimore, performing Handel’s Dixit Dominus and Vivaldi’s Gloria under the direction of Arian Khaefi. Her chamber projects have spanned many centuries and styles, from John Dowland to Samuel Barber in some of Baltimore’s great musical spaces. She has presented songs by Cole Porter at Evergreen House and songs of Schubert at the Garrett-Jacobs Mansion with collaborative pianists Choo Choo Hu and Michael Sheppard. For 15 years Ms. Berger was a frequent soloist with Concert Artists of Baltimore under the direction of Edward Polochick, in works from Bach’s St. Matthew Passion to Mozart opera scenes to John Adams’s Grand Pianola Music. She has collaborated frequently with organist-harpsichordist Daniel Aune as part of the Hafenmusik concert series at Christ Lutheran Church, presenting Bach’s “Coffee Cantata,” Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen, and arias of Handel and Alessandro Scarlatti with trumpeter Andrew Balio. Performances have also included collaborations with Afro House Productions and the Baltimore Rock Opera Society.
Ms. Berger made her European debut as the soprano soloist in performances of Mozart’s Requiem with the Baltimore Choral Arts Society in Paris, Oiron, and Aix-en-Provence, France in 2007, under the direction of Tom Hall. She performs throughout the season with the Baltimore Choral Arts and as soprano soloist at Christ Lutheran Church at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.
In May 2023, Ms. Berger completes an MFA in Creative Writing and Publishing Arts from the University of Baltimore. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts in musicology and English literature from Oberlin College and a Master of Music degree in voice from the Peabody Conservatory. She studied with Penelope Mackay at the Royal Academy of Music in London; coached with Mark Markham, Clara Taylor, Julius Drake and Ian Partridge; and she has performed in masterclasses with John Shirley-Quirk, Max van Egmond, Phyllis Curtin, and Richard Miller. In addition to singing, Ms. Berger writes fiction and makes wearable art which you can see here.