‘Sophie was charming debutante Sarah Gilford, whose lyric soprano fitted the role like a glove - more from her, please.’ (Opera Now)
Praised for her crystal-clear voice and vivid stage presence, British soprano Sarah Gilford opens the season as Nerea in a new production of Handel’s Deidamia at the Wexford Festival Opera. The production will later be revived at the International Handel Festival in Göttingen, followed by a new staging of Johann Christian Bach’s Zanaida with the Kammerakademie Potsdam. Further season highlights include her performance as soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at the Royal Albert Hall and a recital at London’s renowned Wigmore Hall.
In recent seasons, Sarah Gilford made role debuts as Dalinda in Handel’s Ariodante with Les Arts Florissants at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, and as the Governess in Britten’s The Turn of the Screw in a new production by Isabelle Kettle at the Theatre Royal in Bath. She also appeared as Woglinde in Wagner’s Götterdämmerung in Klagenfurt, sang Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Berlin Philharmonic, and made her debut as Sophie in Werther at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden under Sir Antonio Pappano.
At the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, she has been heard as Mignon (title role) at the Cuvilliés Theatre, as Giannetta in L’elisir d’amore, as the Sandman in Hänsel und Gretel, and as Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro.
She made her Wigmore Hall recital debut with pianist Ewa Danilewska, and has appeared as soloist in Handel’s Messiah, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini in Parma, and in gala concerts with the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra and the Festival:philharmonie Westfalen. In Munich’s Herkulessaal, she performed as soloist in Mahler’s Second Symphony.
A finalist at the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 2021, Sarah Gilford is a graduate of the Opera Studio at the Bayerische Staatsoper and was a company member at the Stadttheater Klagenfurt during the 2021/22 season, where she appeared as Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), Soprano I in Rihm’s Jakob Lenz, and Gilda (Rigoletto).
She is supported by the Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation, the Imogen Cooper Music Trust, and the Samling Institute for Young Artists.
Keynote Artist Management represent Sarah Gilford in the UK and Ireland in conjunction with Herbst Artists.
October 2025
