Sarah Tuttle
Teaches: Voice
Sarah Tuttle is an inquisitive classical singer and educator committed to sharing music with listeners and students. 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 believes in cultivating a safe and compassionate atmosphere in her lessons, where students are encouraged to explore, ask questions, and take risks. In addition to technical voice work, Sarah also offers dramatic coaching, diction/text translation tutoring, audition prep, and musicianship training, all of which work together to develop a curious, confident, and well-rounded singer. Whether the ultimate goal is a degree in music, feeling prepared for a role or audition, or simply exploring what a voice can do, Sarah brings the same level of attention and care to each and every student.
Sarah was based in Northwest Germany where her projects included a variety of opera roles, including Hanna Glawari (Die Lustige Witwe), Gertrude (Hänsel und Gretel),and Freia (Das Rheingold). 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. 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 holds a Masters degree from the Bard Graduate Vocal Arts Program at Bard College, and a Bachelor's 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.