/Sarah Jo Kirsch/

An accomplished interpreter of western art music, Sarah Jo Kirsch (they/she) has performed across Canada, in Europe and West Asia as a soloist and collaborator. They have been hailed as "...one of the finest contemporary dramatic vocalists in Canada today," (Calgary Herald) "...with the ability to get under the skin of everything she sings," (Winnipeg Free Press).

Beyond opera and oratorio, Sarah curates and produces sociopolitically relevant art song experiences of works from the last three centuries. An avid and capable interpreter of new music, they have premiered more than 30 new works for voice by Canadian composers. Chorally, Sarah currently serves as a section leader for the Vancouver Bach Choir family and will join the ranks of Musica Intima for the 2022-23 season.

As a creator/composer, Sarah weaves electroacoustic tapestries inspired by the primally physical nature of resonance. As a pundit, they lecture on the ins and outs of western art music, wholistic programming, and vocal liberation for cultural and educational institutions, on podcasts, and on CiTR 101.9 FM. As a pedagog, they keep a small studio of private students from around the world.

Sarah earned their BMus at the University of Colorado Boulder College of Music and MMus from the University of Manitoba Desautels Faculty of Music. They are also a laureate of the Eckhardt-Gramatté National Music Competition and have received project and commissioning support from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Manitoba Arts Council, the Winnipeg Arts Council, the Women’s Musical Club of Winnipeg and many generous individuals for whom they are deeply grateful.

PREMIERES:

2021 Sarah Jo Kirsch (CAN): Reach out & touch sounds (voice/electronics/video)

2020 Sarah Jo Kirsch: Gasp (voice/electronics)

2019 Sarah Jo Kirsch: Grain of the Voice (voice/electronics)

Andrea O Roberts: Crisis Canon (2 sop, dulcimer, analog synth)

David R Scott: Songs from the Ringelblum Archive (rev: sop, pf, vln, vc; 6 songs)

2018 Michael Matthews: A Star of Solitude (sop, cl/bcl, vla, perc; 6 songs)

2017 Jim Hiscott: Milky Dust of Stars (sop, vc; 3 songs)

David R Scott: Songs from the Ringelblum Archive (sop,ten, pf, vln, vc; 6 songs)

Örjan Sandred: A Ghazal (sop, elec)

John L Greer: A Prairie Boy’s Life (sop, alt, ten, bar, pf4h; concert cycle)

2016 Randolph Peters: Savage Harvest (sop, 2 vln, elec)

Sarah Jo Kirsch (for The Gritty): The Matron Saint of Sirens I & II (sop, elec)

Norbert Palej: Four Songs About Not Being There (sop, alt, ten, ch)

2015 Michael Matthews: Solo queda el desierto (sop, 2fl, 2ob, 2cl, 2bn, 2hn, 2tpt, perc, str; 6 songs)

Hugo Wolf (arr. Matthews): Sechs Mörike-Lieder (sop, 2fl, 2ob, 2cl, 2bn, 2hn, 2tpt, perc, str)

Zach Bales: Morningfall (sop, elec)

Sarah Jo Kirsch (for The Gritty): Norman Delicacy I & II (sop, elec)

2014 Matthew Ricketts: Swallow Songs (sop, pf; 3 songs)

Sid Robinovitch: Kiskatinaw Songs (sop, pf; 6 songs)

Andrew Staniland: Execution Songs (sop, pf)

Jim Hiscott: Al Paradiso (sop, alt, ch)

Luke Nickel: Kyrie (sop, alt, ch)

Aaron Funk (Venetian Snares): Deleted poems (v, str, elec)

Zach Bales: Wintermute (sop, ttb soli, ssaa ch, elec; opera) WINTERMUTE

2013 Sarah Jo Kirsch (for The Gritty): Heathen Synesthete I & II (sop, elec)

2012 Michael Matthews: Out in the Dark (SATB soli, fl, ob, cl, bn, hn, str)

Ilkim Tongur: Hora de Estrellas (sop, pf, tape; 3 songs)

Matthew Ricketts: No Masque for Good Measure (2 sop, ct, ten, fl, cl, vla, pf; opera) DRAG QUEEN 2

2011 Garth Hardy: The Loneliest Badger in the World (sop, ten, bar, vln, vc; opera) MELINDA MOLE/CLOWN

2010 Michael Matthews: Winter Is When (sop, ob, vc,pf, tape)

Richard Festinger: Spring Ice (sop, vln, tape; 7 songs)

Dean Burry: Angela and her sisters (2 sop, 2 mez, pf; opera) DONNA FRANCESCA/MOON

SELECTED REPERTOIRE (alphabetical by composer):

Adès: Five Eliot Landscapes

Babbitt: Du

Baboni-Schilingi: Concubia Nocte

Bach: H-moll Messe, Johannes-Passion, Matthäus-Passion, Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen & various smaller cantatas

Barber: Hermit Songs

Beethoven: Messe C-Dur

Boulez: Le Soleil des eaux

Brahms: Requiem

Britten: Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo

Dvořák: Te Deum, V národním tónu

Debussy: Ariettes oubliées

Fauré: Requiem

Feldman: Rothko Chapel

Gervais: Sensational Revolution in Medicine

Granger: Talk Opera

Handel: Judas Maccabaeus, Messiah

Haydn: Die Schöpfung (German & English)

Kuzmenko: A Voice of Hope

Ligeti (arr. Howarth): Mysteries of the Macabre

Mahler: Symphony no 4

Mozart: Große Messe in c-moll, Exsultate Jubilate, Così fan tutte

Orff: Carmina Burana

Poulenc: Gloria, Fiançailles pour rire, La Courte paille

Reich: Tehillim

Schubert: Mass no 6

Schumann: Frauenliebe und -leben

Tiefenbach: Chansons de mon placard

Uyeda: The First Woman

Vaughan Williams: Dona Nobis Pacem

Viñao: Chant d’ailleurs

Weill: Die Sieben Todsünden (German & English)

Žebeljan: New Songs of Lada