Sarah Leonard

Soprano Sarah Leonard was a leading singer of twentieth century and contemporary music. She received her early training at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London, after which she joined the BBC Singers and the Endymion Ensemble. In 1988 she performed the role of Drusilla in Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea under Richard Hickox on Virgin -- one of her few recordings of repertory works. She has worked extensively with the Hilliard Ensemble and the Michael Nyman Band, and, beginning in 1994, with pianist Malcolm Martineau on his series, "A Century of English Song," which was released in several volumes on the Somm label. In 1997 she sang the premiere of Helmut Lachenmann's Das Mädchen mit den Schwefelhölzern, a work she later recorded on Kairos. Leonard has also appeared with the Ensemble Modern, Klangforum Wien, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the London Symphony, and the San Francisco Symphony. Her other recordings include music of Luigi Nono, György Ligeti, Kurt Weill, and Howard Skempton.