Sara Schabas

Soprano

Canadian soprano Sara Schabas has been praised for her “crystalline singing” (Schmopera), “pure sound” (Ludwig van Toronto) and for maintaining a “clear soft tone, despite her vocal power” (Opera Canada). On stage, Sara’s recent performances have included the title role in Maxime Goulet’s The Flight of the Hummingbird with Vancouver Opera/Pacific Opera Victoria, a solo recital for the Canadian Opera Company’s Free Concert Series, Henri (Bandits in the Valley) with Tapestry Opera, Papagena (Die Zauberflöte) with the Dayton Opera, Juliette (Roméo et Juliette) with the Aspen Opera Centre, Frasquita (Carmen) with the Mississauga Symphony, and Najade (Ariadne auf Naxos) with Highlands Opera Studio. On the concert stage, she has sung as a soloist in works including Handel’s Messiah, Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem, and by Vivaldi, Rutter, Poulenc and Mahler. During the pandemic, her projects have included a return to Pacific Opera Victoria as the Dormouse in a filmed presentation of Elizabeth Raum’s The Garden of Alice, a digital recital with Marie-Ève Scarfone in the Opernhaus Zürich, a filmed presentation of her Dora-nominated performance as Anne Frank in Cecilia Livingston’s Singing Only Softly, and joining Manitoba Opera as a Digital Emerging Artist. Post-pandemic, Sara looks forward to returning to Highlands Opera Studio as Zerlina (Don Giovanni), performing with Théâtre Lyrichoregra as a laureate of their Jeunes Ambassadeurs Lyriques, and her Austrian debut in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas with the Concentus Musicus Wien. A 2019 Regional Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, her recent awards include the Career Blueprint Award from the IRCPA, the Hnatyshyn Foundation Grant for Classical Vocal Performance, and grants from the Vancouver Opera Foundation and the Canada Council for the Arts. Born and raised in Tkaronto/Toronto, Sara enjoys writing about her art form for Opera Canada Magazine, bringing music to people in care homes, baking, reading, and exploring her new home of Switzerland.