Sasha Cooke

Two-time GRAMMY Award-winning mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke has sung at the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, English National Opera, Seattle Opera, Opéra National de Bordeaux, and Gran Teatre del Liceu, among others, and with over 80 symphony orchestras worldwide, frequently in the works of Mahler. This season marks her appointment at the Music Academy of the West as co-director of the Lehrer Vocal Institute. Cooke opened the 2022–23 season with a return to Houston Grand Opera in her role debut as Thirza in the company’s new production of Dame Ethel Smyth’s The Wreckers. Her concert performances in the U.S. and abroad include a debut with Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Mahler’s Symphony No. 3, conducted by Sir Antonio Pappano, and the Utah Symphony in Mendelssohn’s Elijah, which she later performs with NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra led by Alan Gilbert.