Photos by Matt Dilyard, Ohio Light Opera Productions of One Touch of Venus, costume by Stefanie Genda (left) and Jubilee, costume by Whitney Locher (Right)
Sarah Best
Professional opera and musical theatre performer, Sarah Best, comes from a diverse background in performance and teaching artistry. Her versatility within her field has allowed her to garner a career involving various creative projects, educational and performance-based, with organizations throughout the United States including: The American Symphony Orchestra, Ash Lawn Opera, Bard Music Festival, The Daraja Ensemble, Inscape Chamber Orchestra, The Light Opera of NY, The Los Angeles Operetta Foundation, The Luzerne Music Center, The Maryland Opera Studio, The Metropolitan Opera Guild, The New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players, The Ohio Light Opera, Opéra Louisiane, Roundabout Theatre Company, St. Petersburg Opera, and The Virginia Consort.
Known for her “comic timing and her rapport with the audience,” (The Daily Record) Best's range of stage experience branches out from the traditional opera canon and sacred music performance into contemporary concert works and includes a vast repertoire from the American musical theatre tradition. Recent roles have included: Nellie Forbush (South Pacific), The Baker’s Wife (Into the Woods), Orfeo (Orfeo ed Euridice), Hattie (Kiss Me, Kate), Lucretia (The Rape of Lucretia), Iolanthe (Iolanthe), Madame de Croissy (Dialogues des Carmélites), and Gladys Hotchkiss (The Pajama Game). As a graduate of the University of Maryland’s Maryland Opera Studio (M.M.) and Mansfield University of Pennsylvania (B.M.), she continues her work as a performer and performing arts education advocate in communities across the United States Currently, Best is pursuing a D.M.A. at the University of Michigan in Voice Performance, and investigating her interests in the use of performance techniques as a means for developing organic and dialogic communication in professional and personal arenas.