Two-time Grammy Award-winning mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke has been called a “luminous standout” ( New York Times ) and “equal parts poise, radiance and elegant directness” ( Opera News ). She is sought after by the world’s leading orchestras, opera companies, and chamber music ensembles for her versatile repertoire.

A devoted interpreter of new music, she has premiered works by composers Mark Adamo, Mason Bates, William Bolcom, Jake Heggie, Pierre Jalbert, Laura Kaminsky, Lowell Liebermann, Nico Muhly, John Musto, Marc Neikrug, Kevin Puts, Augusta Read Thomas and Joby Talbot. Ms. 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 70 symphony orchestras worldwide frequently in the works of Mahler under leading conductors including Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Gustavo Dudamel, Bernard Haitink, James Levine, Edo de Waart, Trevor Pinnock, Harry Bicket, Michael Tilson Thomas, Riccardo Muti and Sir Mark Elder.

In the 2020-2021 season, Ms. Cooke reprises the role of Jan Arnold in Joby Talbot’s Everest with Opera Parallèle, while in concert, she gives a solo recital at Houston Grand Opera with pianist Kirill Kuzmin, sings Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest under the baton of Edo de Waart, and performs Bach’s Mass in B minor with the Orchestre National de France under the direction of Trevor Pinnock. Previously scheduled operatic engagements included returns to Dallas Opera as Sylvie in the world premiere of Joby Talbot’s and Gene Scheer’s The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, to the Metropolitan Opera as Hansel in Hansel and Gretel and San Francisco Opera as Offred in Poul Ruder’s The Handmaid’s Tale.

On the concert stage, she had been scheduled to perform Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 with the Minnesota Orchestra, Michael Tilson Thomas’ Rilke Songs with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Missa Solemnis with the San Francisco Symphony and Houston Symphony and to give duo recitals alongside soprano Susanna Phillips at Friends of Chamber Music in Portland, the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts in Urbana, Illinois, and the Shriver Center in Baltimore. She recently collaborated with 17 composers on a project called Songs in a Time of Silence which will be released on Pentatone and premiered at San Francisco Symphony on their Great Performers series next season.

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, Naxos, Bridge Records, Yarlung, GPR Records and Sono Luminus labels. Most recently she appears on five recordings including 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, Michael Tilson Thomas’ Meditations on Rilke with the San Francisco Symphony 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 and Canada. She lives near Houston, TX with daughters Evelyn and Julia and husband baritone Kelly Markgraf.