In the 2021-2022 season, Ms. Cooke returns to the Metropolitan Opera both for her role debut as Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, under the baton of James Gaffigan, and as Eduige in Rodelinda, under the baton of Harry Bicket. On the concert stage, she joins the Minnesota Orchestra for Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen and subsequently for Mahler’s Symphony No. 8, the latter conducted by Osmo Vänskä. She also joins the Houston Symphony for Nadia Boulanger’s Faust et Hélène, led by Fabien Gabel, and again for Mahler Symphony no. 2 Resurrection led by Andrés Orozco-Estrada. Additionally, she performs Michael Tilson Thomas’ Meditations on Rilke with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, conducted by the composer, Berlioz’s Béatrice et Bénédict with Festival de la Côte Saint-André, led by John Nelson, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 Resurrection with the Oregon Symphony, Jake Heggie’s The Work at Hand and Elgar’s Sea Pictures with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, led by Gemma New and Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen with the New World Symphony. Finally, she gives a solo recital alongside pianist Myra Huang at the Tucson Desert Song Festival where she premieres a new work by Jennifer Higdon and returns to the Music Academy of the West as artist in residence.
In the 2020-2021 season, Ms. Cooke sang a solo recital at Houston Grand Opera with pianist Kirill Kuzmin, performed Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen with Vasily Petrenko and the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, and joined the Cincinnati May Festival for a performance of Copland’s Eight Poems of Emily Dickinson. She also made her debut at Bard SummerScape as Genièvre in Chausson’s Le roi Arthus, sang Jan Arnold in a new recording of Joby Talbot’s Everest with Opera Parallèle, and returned to Dallas Opera for a Pops Concert. Previously scheduled engagements included appearances at the Metropolitan Opera as Hansel in Hansel and Gretel, at Dallas Opera as Sylvie in the world premiere of Talbot’s The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, and at San Francisco Opera as Offred in Poul Ruder’s The Handmaid’s Tale. Concert performances were to include Bach’s Mass in B minor with the Orchestre National de France under the direction of Trevor Pinnock, Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 with the Minnesota Orchestra and music director Osmo Vänskä, Missa Solemnis with Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony and a duo recital tour alongside soprano Susanna Phillips.
As a dedicated recitalist, Ms. Cooke was presented by Young Concert Artists in her widely acclaimed New York and Washington debuts at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall and the Kennedy Center. She has also appeared in recital at Alice Tully Hall, The Wigmore Hall, the Kennedy Center and the 92nd St Y. Her recordings can be found on the Hyperion, BIS, Chandos, Pentatone, Naxos, Bridge Records, Yarlung, GPR Records and Sono Luminus labels. Most recently she appears on recordings including Intonations: Songs from the Violins of Hope by Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer on Pentatone, Michael Tilson Thomas’ Meditations on Rilke with the San Francisco Symphony with won the 2021 Grammy Award for Best Classical Compendium, L’enfance du Christ with Sir Andrew Davis and the Melbourne Symphony on Chandos, Bates’ The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs on Pentatone which won the 2019 Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording, Mahler’s 2nd Symphony with Osmo Vänskä and the Minnesota Orchestra on BIS and Sasha Cooke LIVE a collection of her performances from the Music@Menlo chamber music festival released on their label.
A graduate of Rice University and The Juilliard School, Sasha Cooke also attended the Music Academy of the West, the Aspen Music Festival, the Ravinia Festival’s Steans Music Institute, the Wolf Trap Foundation, the Marlboro Music Festival, the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, and Seattle Opera and Central City Opera’s Young Artist Training Programs. Ms. Cooke has given masterclasses throughout the United States, Australia and Canada. She lives near Houston, TX with daughters Evelyn and Julia and husband baritone Kelly Markgraf.