Mezzo-Soprano Samantha Hankey to Perform With Pianist Myra Huang In Recital at Vocal Arts DC

Mezzo-soprano Samantha Hankey will appear in a solo recital at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater in Washington D.C., presented by Vocal Arts DC on January 14, 2025. She performs alongside GRAMMY Award-nominated pianist Myra Huang.

This recital spotlights Hankey in a performance of Dichterliebe (A Poet's Love) by Robert Schumann, a set of 16 songs composed by Schumann in response to his separation from his bride, Clara. This beautiful collection of German Lieder is paired on the program with Poulenc's 3 Chanson de Federico García Lorca, as well as songs by Satie, Schönberg, Trenet, Weill, and Porter.

Following her Kennedy Center recital, Hankey departs the U.S. to make her debut at the New National Theatre Tokyo, singing the title role in Àlex Ollé's production of Carmen. Gaetano d'Espinosa conducts the classic love story on February 26 and March 1, 4, 6 and 8, 2025. On March 23, 26 and 29, 2025, Hankey appears at the Bayerische Staatsoper, singing the role of Octavian in Strauss's comic opera Der Rosenkavalier. Conducted by Vladimir Jurowski and directed by Barrie Kosky, this is a revival of a new production premiered by Hankey at the Bayerische Staatsoper in 2021 - a production praised for shedding new light on Strauss's stylized depiction of 18th century Vienna. Hankey returns to the Bayerische Staatsoper later in the season in her role debut as Donna Elvira in Mozart's Don Giovanni. Performances will be held on June 27, 30, July 4, 6, and 8, 2025, with Vladimir Jurowski conducting. Among her other North American highlights, Hankey joins conductor David Robertson on April 14, 2025 as the mezzo-soprano soloist in Mahler's Symphony No. 3 with The Juilliard Orchestra at Carnegie Hall.

Program Information

Samantha Hankey, mezzo soprano & Myra Huang, pianist
January 14, 2025 at 7:30pm
The Kennedy Center Terrace Theater | Washington, D.C.
Link: vocalartsdc.org/samantha-hankey/

Program:
Poulenc - 3 Chansons de Federico García Lorca
Schumann - Dichterliebe
Satie - "La Dica de l'Empire"
Schoenberg - "Gigerlette"
Trenet - "Boum!"
Weill - "Speak Low, "Youkali"
Porter - "So in Love"

About Samantha Hankey

With "much elegance and youthful tone" (Financial Times), mezzo-soprano Samantha Hankey is increasingly lauded for her powerful stage presence and as "a complete dramatic presence with a voice as lustrous as it is molten" (Opera Magazine).

Hankey's 2024-2025 season marks her debuts with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Ravinia Festival in Mozart's Idomeneo, and with New National Theater Tokyo in the title role of Carmen. Hankey returns to Bayerische Staatsoper where she reprises the role of Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier and performs as Donna Elvira in a new production of Mozart's Don Giovanni, part of the 2025 Munich Opera Festival. In concert, Hankey is featured in a recital with pianist Myra Huang at The Kennedy Center, presented by Vocal Arts DC.

Recent seasons saw Hankey make debuts at London's Royal Opera House singing the role of Dorabella in Così fan tutte; at Detroit Opera in the role of the Fox in Leoš Janáček's The Cunning Little Vixen; and in a role debut as Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana at Lyric Opera of Kansas City. She returned to Opernhaus Zürich for Così fan tutte; performed as a featured soloist in Beethoven's Missa Solemnis with Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin and appeared in recital at London's Wigmore Hall, Antwerp LiedFest and in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. In addition, she sang Octavian in The Metropolitan Opera's Der Rosenkavalier, made her role and house debuts as Mélisande in Pelléas et Mélisande in Netia Jones' production at Santa Fe Opera, performed as Federico García Lorca in Golijov's Ainadamar at Scottish Opera, made her house debut as Hänsel in Hänsel und Gretel at Lyric Opera of Chicago, before reprising the role of Dorabella in Così fan tutte at Palm Beach Opera.

From 2019-2021, Hankey held a Fest contract at the Bayerische Staatsoper, where she made notable appearances in leading roles. In the same season she made Metropolitan Opera debut performing a myriad of named roles in a single season, alongside major house debuts at Opernhaus Zürich, Den Norske Opera, The Dallas Opera, and Grand Théâtre de Genève.

On the concert stage, she has performed at the Bard Festival, Carnegie Hall, the title role in Handel's Agrippina in concert with Il Pomo d'Oro in Finland, in solo recital at Wigmore Hall, New York City at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Hankey co-developed the lead roles in David Herzberg's The Rose Elf and The Wake World, both of which received considerable praise, premieres, and CD recordings. She has also premiered new works with Opera Philadelphia and The Metropolitan Opera.

Hankey's career includes awards in a vast number of national and international competitions. In 2018, she won both First Prize and the Media Prize at the inaugural Glyndebourne Cup, multiple prizes at the Operalia Competition, and a Career Grant from the Richard Tucker Music Foundation. She was a 2017 Grand Finals Winner by the Metropolitan Opera National Council, took First Prize in the Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition, and received a Leonore Annenberg Arts Fellowship in the foundation's final year.

Hankey is a graduate of The Juilliard School, where she received both her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees. A native of Massachusetts, she embraced her passion for music from an early age and pursued pre-college vocal training at the Longy School of Music and the New England Conservatory. Learn more at www.samanthahankey.com.

About Myra Huang

GRAMMY Award-nominated pianist Myra Huang has established herself as one of the leading recitalists and opera educators in the U.S. Huang is invited regularly to perform around the world, with tours including regular appearances at Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, The Walt Disney Concert Hall, The Kennedy Center, The 92nd Street Y, Spivey Hall, and the Park Avenue Armory.

Huang was chosen as the recipient of The Samuel Sanders Collaborative Artist Award for 2019 by The Classical Recording Foundation for her consummate artistry. She was regularly invited to perform in recital for the Supreme Court Justices by the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Huang was the pianist for the Operalia international competition directed by tenor Placido Domingo for fifteen years, performing in opera houses around the world, including the Royal Opera House in London, La Scala in Milan, and Teatro Real in Madrid. Her performance at Carnegie Hall with tenor Lawrence Brownlee was chosen by WQXR as one of the best performances of the year in 2018. Regular collaborations include recitals with Fleur Barron, J'Nai Bridges, Lawrence Brownlee, Sasha Cooke, Ying Fang, Joshua Hopkins, Will Liverman, Angela Meade, Latonia Moore, Eric Owens, Nicholas Phan, Susanna Phillips, Roderick Williams, and clarinetist Anthony McGill. Huang received two Grammy nominations for her album Gods and Monsters (2018) and Clairières (2020) with tenor Nicholas Phan with the Avie record label.

Huang is the Head of Music for the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at The Metropolitan Opera, The Director of Musical Administration and Head Coach at The Aspen Music Festival, and faculty of the Collaborative Piano Department at The Manhattan School of Music, where she mentors and trains young opera singers and pianists of the next generation. She has been on the music staff of Washington National Opera, Palau de les Arts (Spain), New York City Opera and The Metropolitan Opera. She regularly adjudicates national and international competitions including the Laffont Competition at The Metropolitan Opera, and administers masterclasses at institutions across the country. Huang is a Steinway artist.

Photo Credit: Daniel Welch

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