Sarah Tuttle is an inquisitive classical singer and public radio host committed to sharing music with listeners, both onstage and over the airwaves. Beginning her musical study as a pianist with a deep interest in music theory, the intimacy and authenticity of the human voice lead her to pursue degrees in music and later a career in performance that took her overseas.
Sarah was based in Northwest Germany where her projects included the roles of Hanna Glawari (Die Lustige Witwe), Gertrude (Hänsel und Gretel), La Reine Marguerite (Yvonne, Princesse de Bourgogne) and Freia (Das Rheingold), as well as concert performances of Handel's La Resurrezione and Benjamin's A Mind of Winter. Prior to her time in Europe, Sarah performed the roles of the Fox in Janacek's The Cunning Little Vixen with the New England Conservatory Graduate Opera Program and both the Governess (Britten’s The Turn of the Screw) and Gertrud (Hänsel und Gretel) while studying in the Bard Vocal Arts Program, a Masters program under the leadership of pianist Kayo Iwama and soprano Dawn Upshaw.
Committed to contemporary vocal music and collaboration with composers, Sarah is delighted to have participated in the creation of new works. In the summer of 2015 she gave the world premiere performance of John Harbison's Seven Poems of Lorine Niedecker with pianist Ursula Oppens, garnering praise from the Wall Street Journal for her "fine balance of energy and introspection," and "open and engaging presence on stage." In 2013 she was the soprano soloist in the world premiere of Avner Dorman’s Letters from Gettysburg, a work commissioned for the 150th anniversary of the Civil War battle. Other performances of note include the Boston premiere of Shawn Jaeger's The Cold Pane and a performance of Jonathan Harvey's Song Offerings as part of the Tanglewood Festival of Contemporary Music. Shortly after the pandemic lockdown began in 2020, Sarah collaborated with award-winning composer Ed Nesbit and ethnomusicologist Thomas Hodgson on Aenigmata, a project featuring musical settings of riddles penned by St Aldhelm, a 7th-Century saint and scholar. Most recently, Sarah launched Songs From Here , an initiative intended to connect poets, composers, and musicians from across her home state of Maine.
Sarah’s work in radio began upon her return to the United States in 2019, when she accepted a position as a producer and on-air host with Maine Public Classical. Her work on the air is a fulfilling parallel to her work as a performer and a natural fit for her programming expertise and natural storytelling abilities. Since joining Maine Public Sarah has produced and hosted her own weekday morning radio program and has lent her voice to special programming, pledge drives, and interviews. Maine Public Classical is broadcast statewide to thousands of listeners and is available online to be heard around the world.
Sarah holds a Masters degree from the Bard Graduate Vocal Arts Program at Bard College, and a Bachelors degree from the Sunderman Conservatory of Music at Gettysburg College . She is also proud to have spent two summers as a Vocal Fellow with the Tanglewood Music Center, from whom she received the Grace B. Jackson Prize for Excellence in the summer of 2015. Sarah is a board member of the Maine chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) and the co-director of Opera on Tap Maine. She was an invited adjudicator at the NATS Maine Classical Voice Festival and Bay Chamber Concerts Young Stars of Maine Competition in 2021, and at the University of Southern Maine Concerto Competition in 2022. She makes her home in Portland, Maine.
