SHEREZADE PANTHAKI
Soprano Sherezade Panthaki’s international success has been fueled by superbly honed musicianship; “astonishing coloratura with radiant top notes” (Calgary Herald); “a full, luxuriously toned upper range” (The Los Angeles Times), a vocal color “combining brilliance with a dark, plumlike tone” (The Wall Street Journal), and passionately informed interpretations, “mining deep emotion from the subtle shaping of the lines” (The New York Times). An acknowledged star in the early-music field, Ms. Panthaki enjoys ongoing collaborations with many of the world’s leading interpreters including Nicholas McGegan, Mark Morris, Matthew Halls, Nicholas Kraemer, Paul Agnew, Lawrence Cummings, and Masaaki Suzuki, with whom she made her New York Philharmonic debut in a program of Bach and Mendelssohn. Her recent performance with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra was named one of the Top 10 Classical Music Events of the year and described as “a breathtaking combination of expressive ardor, tonal clarity, technical mastery and dramatic vividness” by The San Francisco Chronicle.
Ms. Panthaki’s current season includes performances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, a US tour with Bach Collegium Japan, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Music of the Baroque (Chicago), the Spoleto Festival Orchestra, The American Classical Orchestra, New York Baroque Incorporated, the Mark Morris Dance Group, Opera Lafayette, Pasadena and Milwaukee Symphonies, Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, University of Chicago Early Music series, and the Portland Bach Festival. A specialist in Baroque repertoire, particularly in the music of J.S. Bach, Ms. Panthaki is equally at home with twentieth century and contemporary repertoire.
Born and raised in India, Ms. Panthaki began her musical education at an early age. Following intensive study and earning top distinction as a young pianist, she turned to singing and found a more personal and expressive means to connect with audiences. She holds an Artist Diploma with top honors from the Yale School of Music and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, where she was the winner of multiple awards including the prestigious Phyllis Curtin Career Entry Prize. She earned a Masters degree from the University of Illinois, and a Bachelors degree from West Virginia Wesleyan College.