Sarah Sweeting was born in England and studied at the London College of
Music, winning the Director's Prize for Opera. During this time she was the
soloist in John McCabe's
Notturni ed Alba
(performed at the Westminster Central Hall and broadcast live by the BBC).
She went on to perform in musicals at London 's West End theatres, including
the celebrated Broadway version of
The Pirates of Penzance
at the London Palladium, in which she sang the role of
Edith
and understudied the role of
Mabel.
Sarah's performances as a principal soprano include: the roles of
Liu
in
Turandot
and
Leonora
in
Il Trovatore
(Opera Holland Park, English Festival Opera and Lyric Opera Dublin) and
Donna Elvira
in
Don Giovanni,
Fiordiligi
in
Cosi fan tutte
,
Countess Almaviva
in
The Marriage of Figaro,
Musetta
in
La Boheme
and
Second Lady
in
The Magic Flute
(Travelling Opera). She has also appeared in principal soprano roles
in productions for The Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company, Crystal Clear
Opera, Lyric Opera Dublin, Opera Interludes, First Act Opera, London City
Opera, Opera Kernow and the Holders International Musical Festival.
Sarah made her debut as a mezzo-soprano singing the title role in
Carmen
at the London Opera Festival. This was followed by performances at The
Royal Opera, Covent Garden, the Linbury Theatre as a soloist in
A Tribute to the Work of Robert Stolz
(written for the Covent Garden Festival). She then joined the Carl
Rosa Opera Company, performing the roles of
Phoebe
in
The Yeomen of the Guard,
Pitti-Sing
in
The Mikado
(released
on CD and video),
the title role in
Iolanthe,
and in Raymond Gubbay's Christmas Festival at the Barbican Theatre.
In 2006, after moving to Sydney, Sarah performed the roles of
Prince Orlofsky
in
Die Fledermaus
for both Opera Queensland and Co*Opera, for whom she also sang
Suzuki
in Madama Butterfly. In the premiere production of Becky
Llewellwn's The Portrait, Sarah performed the role of
Violet Hunt. On
occasions, Sarah joins up with friend and fellow performer from London,
Penny Shaw, who formed
Daisy Productions,
the successful Fremantle based company specialising in providing top quality
small-scale entertainment.
In 2007 Sarah sang with Opera Australia in their production Il
Trovatore,
State Opera South Australia as
Alma March
in the Australian Premiere of Mark Adamo's opera
Little Women &
Co*Opera as
Third Lady in
their production
of
The Magic Flute
She also sang the role of
Sister Lillian
in
Dead Man Walking
at Sydney's State Theatre.
In 2008 Sarah will join The
Tall Poppeas,
for the Armidale Bach Festival before returning to Opera Queensland for the
World Premiere of their new production, The
Magic Flute
performing the role of
Third Lady.