Meet Our New Year's Eve Soloists
• Hadleigh Adams & Sarah Coit •
A Baroque New Year's Eve at the Opera
Tuesday December 31 2019 4:00 p.m.
  Herbst Theatre, San Francisco
Sarah Coit, mezzo-soprano • Hadleigh Adams, baritone
American Bach Soloists • Jeffrey Thomas, conductor

Arias & Duets from
Handel:  Agrippina • Ariodante • Giulio Cesare
Orlando • Riccardo I, ré d'Inghilterra  
Monteverdi:  L’incoronazione di Poppea  
Rameau:  Castor & Pollux • Hippolyte et Aricie
Vivaldi:  Il Bajazet 
AN INTERVIEW WITH SARAH COIT
MAKING HER ABS DEBUT ON NEW YEAR'S EVE
Hometown:   Spring Hill, FL

Education:   Bachelor of Arts Degrees in Theatre Performance and Music Studies from the University of South Florida. Masters in Voice Performance from the University of Michigan.

Hobbies :  Baking, visiting aquariums and historical landmarks, being goofy.

Favorite opera singer before 1960:   Dame Janet Baker: I think love for her singing transcends time!

Favorite modern opera singer:  Dame Sarah Connolly

Favorite food:   White Cheddar Popcorn

Mantra:   It's nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice.
Q:   When did you start singing?
A:   I participated in choir in elementary school, but I didn’t take formal singing lessons until high school.
 
Q:   Who/what were your major influences?
A:   I think I was always interested in performing. Some of my clearest memories from elementary school were when they had theater or music groups come to perform for us. My first voice teacher, Dr. Roberta (Bobbi) Moger, had such a big influence on me. Her two biggest things were vocal health and leading with joy. She’d always take time to find pieces for her students that spoke to them. Her love of music wasn’t ego driven and you could just tell how much joy it gave her to participate in music making. It was such a great way to be introduced to serious music study.

Q:   What's a typical day like in the life of Sarah Coit?
A:   I feel like I’ve just gotten out of the YAP [Young Artist Program] circuit, so there’s no such thing as a typical day yet, which I kind of love. Frequent gigging can give you a sense of homelessness, which I thought would be a struggle for me, but has actually made it easier for me to live in the moment. I don’t have kids and my boyfriend and I visit each other when we have time off and play tourist. It’s nothing like I expected and it’s really fun!
 
Q:   Favorite performing experience so far?
A:   That’s such a tough question. Performing experiences vary so much and what makes them great can be very different. I remember being so fulfilled by performing my Master's Degree recital at Michigan because I presented music I felt so strongly about and felt that I was taking those first steps towards presenting myself clearly as a person and an artist. Then there were summers at Brevard Music Center where we did four operas and were either singing roles or in the chorus for each. It made each show such a supportive group effort and we were all so close and had so much fun. I’ve also had those experiences in bigger young artist programs like OTSL [Opera Theatre of Saint Louis] and Santa Fe where you’re standing onstage with, covering, or even singing with singers who are operating at an insanely high artistic level and you can talk to them and ask them questions and that’s an awesome way to spend a few months. Then, of course, I’ve had those super humbling moments like when I was singing Cherubino in a  Marriage of Figaro  and Susanne Mentzer was singing Marcellina. To be waiting to enter while she was singing that duet…little college Sarah could not have even imagined that. There are so many others I’ve loved so much, it’s hard to pick!
"Sarah Coit, as Adonis, projected a bold stage and vocal presence."
~ Aaron Keebaugh, Boston Classical Review
 
“Sarah Coit’s burnished mezzo-soprano gave her Cherubino a seductive tinge. Her pure, lovely “Voi che sapete” confirmed her bright future, made all the more likely by her undeniable aptitude for physical comedy.”
~ Jennifer Goltz, Opera News
"Two performers who got it just right were Madison Leonard and Sarah Coit. As Frasquita and Mercédès they were a perfect pair, musically well-blended yet able to shine in their solo moments. They sang well, moved fluently, looked terrific, and had just the right world-weary yet upbeat attitude.”
~ John Carroll, OperaWire
Q:   Dream roles?
A:   I’ve covered Erika in Barber’s  Vanessa , but I’d love the chance to actually do it. I’d also love a chance to do Nancy in  Albert Herring  again. I love that show so much. Any Handel or Mozart roles. Any. I’m also a big lover of new music, so I always think that my favorite role just hasn’t been written yet! 😉


Q:   What's the weirdest or funniest thing that's ever happened to you during a performance?
A:   I was singing Mercédès in  Carmen  at Utah Opera and we were about to start the card trio on opening night when I see, sitting center stage, a bright blue Dr. Scholl’s insole. My costume had a purse where I kept my cards, so I grabbed the insole and put it in there and we continued. My colleagues and I laughed about it but were mostly confused as to how a single loose insole could end up on stage. Well, it turns out that our Don José had been trying out different insoles in his dressing room and one of them had been put on the chair he was sitting on. It stuck to his pants, unnoticed, and he carried it all the way to center stage where it fell off. The lighting was sort of blue so the director (and as far as I know, the audience members) never saw it!
 
Q:   If you weren't a singer, you'd be...?
A:   A mediocre stand-up comedian.
 
Q:   You're a Bay Area gal...Joe's Special or a Mission Burrito?
A:   Burrritooooo, baby!

Q:   What’s happening for you in 2019/20?
A:   Some fun stuff! I just finished my Seattle Opera debut as Mercédès in  Carmen . I’m performing as a soloist in Bernstein’s  Songfest  at the Ravinia Festival, singing Jenny in  The Threepenny Opera  with WestEdge Opera, singing Olga in  Eugene Onegin  with Livermore Valley Opera, and performing in a Baroque New Year’s Eve concert with American Bach Soloists in San Francisco. I’m getting to have some reunions in 2020 when I head back to my home state to sing Mercédès in  Carmen  with Opera Tampa (where I was a chorister in college) and then back to Utah Opera (where I was a Resident Artist for two years) to sing Rosina in  The Barber of Seville !
NEXT PERFORMANCES
HANDEL'S MESSIAH IN GRACE CATHEDRAL

December 11–13 2019
A BAROQUE NEW YEAR'S EVE AT THE OPERA

December 31 2019
We Thank our Sponsors

The American Bach Soloists are grateful for the support of these and other Foundations, Corporations, Government Agencies, and Individual Sponsors