Sara Couden

Praised by Opera News for her “unusually rich and resonant” voice, contralto Sara Couden is a premier interpreter of operatic, orchestral, chamber, and song repertoire. Her 2025-2026 season includes a debut with Detroit Opera as Rita in Poul Ruders’ The Handmaid’s Tale, a debut with the Houston Symphony in selections from La Vida Breve, a role and house debut as Ježibaba (Rusalka) with Pacific Northwest Opera, Die Hexe/Die Mutter (Hӓnsel und Gretel) with Lakes Area Music Festival and appearances with the St. Louis Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, and Tucson Symphony as the Alto Soloist in Händel’s Messiah.

Ms. Couden’s latest triumphs include her San Francisco Opera debut as Rita (The Handmaid’s Tale), a return to the Metropolitan Opera to cover Mrs. Sedley (Peter Grimes), her debut appearance in recital at the Manchester Music Festival and a role debut as Baba the Turk (The Rake’s Progress) with Lakes Area Music Festival, as well as company debuts with the Philadelphia Orchestra as Mother/Chinese Cup/Dragon Fly L’enfant et les Sortilèges), the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra as the Alto Soloist in Julia Perry’s Stabat Mater, the Seattle Symphony in Händel’s Messiah, and the California Symphony in songs by Mahler. Ms. Couden also recently released her debut solo album, the Complete Vocal Works of Artur Schnabel, on the Steinway & Sons label.

Highlights from previous seasons include Ms. Couden’s debut with the Metropolitan Opera as Tetka (Jenufa) and Albine (Thaïs), as well as returns to Carnegie Hall as the Alto Soloist in Karl Jenkins’ Stabat Mater and to the Met to cover Erste Magd (Elektra) and Marta and Pantalis (Mefistofele). She also made role debuts as Ottavia (L’Incoronazione de Poppea) and Nurse in Dukas’ Ariane et Barbe-bleue with West Edge Opera, Juno (Semele) and Marquise de Berkenfeld (La Fille du Régiment) with St. Petersburg Opera, Israelitish Man (Judas Maccabeus) with Philharmonia Baroque, Ormindo (Ermelinda) with Ars Minerva, Dejanira (Hercules) at the Staunton Music Festival, and Testo in Stradella’s La Susanna with Heartbeat Opera and Opera Lafayette.