Sarah Jo Kirsch is a soprano/vocalist currently based in Winnipeg, Canada. She continues to make waves as a soloist with local ensembles – large and small – and maintains a continuing presence at the WSO New Music Festival, Cluster New Music + Integrated Arts Festival, and Groundswell, Winnipeg’s new music concert series. Sarah surfs the gamut of musical evolution seeking the most harmonious alloys forged from text and music. More than anything, she aspires to be a worthy muse and an evocative interpreter.
Sarah was honoured to be awarded 2nd place in the 2014 WMC McLellan Competition and 1st place in the 2014 Eckhardt-Gramatté National Music Competition.
Sarah completed her undergraduate degree in voice at the University of Colorado at Boulder College of Music and earned her Master's at the University of Manitoba Marcel A Desautels Faculty of Music. When she's not performing or hosting classical radio programs, she fosters a small private voice studio in Winnipeg.
Repertoire
Outside of Manitoba this season, Sarah embarks on a cross-Canada tour with Winnipeg pianist Maddy Hildebrand this fall, and premieres Michael Matthews’ new song cycle 'Solo queda el desierto' with L’Orchestre de Chambre de Montréal and performs Mozart’s Große Messe in c-moll at the American University of Beirut and Ligeti's Mysteries of the Macabre and Berberian's Stripsody with Calgary's Land's End ensemble in spring.
Within Winnipeg, Sarah will perform a brand new pair of concept pieces for amplified/manipulated voice and projections in collaboration with video artist Jaymez as experimental a/v duo The Gritty in addition to singing Larysa Kuzmenko's A Voice of Hope with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra at the 2015 WSO New Music Festival in February.
In March, she'll perform songs by Robert Schumann, Claude Debussy, Richard Strauss, and Richard Danielpour as part of the Music 'N' Mavens afternoon recital series with Maddy Hildebrand; and the 2015 Cluster New Music + Integrated Arts Festival has invited Sarah back to work her magic in another new piece by emerging composer Zach Bales.
