Sherezade Panthaki

Soprano Sherezade Panthaki's international success has been fueled by superbly honed musicianship; “shimmering sensitivity” (Cleveland Plain Dealer); a “radiant” voice (The Washington Post); and vividly passionate interpretations, “mining deep emotion from the subtle shaping of the lines” (The New York Times). She has been described as “a phenomenon” and praised for the “multifold splendor of her singing” by The San Francisco Chronicle. An acknowledged star in the early-music field, Ms. Panthaki has developed ongoing collaborations with many of the world’s leading interpreters including Nicholas McGegan, Mark Morris, Simon Carrington, Matthew Halls, and Masaaki Suzuki, with whom she made her New York Philharmonic debut in a program of Bach and Mendelssohn. 

Ms. Panthaki’s 2019/20 season included returns to Minnesota Orchestra, Houston Symphony, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, St. Thomas Church Fifth Avenue in New York, The Choir and Orchestra of Trinity Wall Street on tour in Montreal, as well as debuts with Voices of Music, and the NDR Hannover Radiophilharmonie, Germany. She rejoined the Boston Early Music Festival

(BEMF) in Bremen, Germany performing and recording Graupner’s opera Antiochus und Stratonica. Following a triumphant Handelian performance in the title role of Atalanta with Philharmonia Baroque, Ms. Panthaki was featured at the Caramoor Music Festival in an operatic recital, “Love and Revenge: The Baroque Diva” with the Helicon Ensemble. She tours frequently as a guest artist with the New York City based Parthenia Viol Consort, including a special performance for the closing ceremonies of the 2019 Venice Biennale. Recent album releases include Handel's oratorio Joseph and his Brethren with Nicholas McGegan and Philharmonia Baroque, Graupner’s Antiochus und Stratonica with BEMF, and the chamber duets of Agostino Steffani with director Jory Vinikour.

Ms. Panthaki is a founding member of and artistic advisor to the newly-debuted Kaleidoscope Vocal Ensemble, a one-voice-per-part octet celebrating racial and ethnic diversity in performances and educational programs of early and new music. Since 2018, she has been the Vocal Music Coordinator and featured soprano soloist at the Bach Virtuosi Festival held every summer in Portland, Maine. She has maintained a steady schedule of online performances during the pandemic - making virtual recordings for Cleveland based Les Delices, New York based Salon Sanctuary Concerts, the Bach Virtuosi Festival in Portland, self-accompanied recitals of 17th century English and Italian songs for Public Radio and various arts series, teaching a month-long online Baroque opera workshop for Grand Valley State University in Michigan, as well as numerous guest lectures on Vocal Health, Vocal Technique, and Baroque Performance Practice for various universities across the United States. 

Past performances of note include Vivaldi with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and St. Louis and Detroit Symphonies; Mozart and Bach with the Milwaukee Symphony, countless performances of works of Bach, Handel and Purcell with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Music of the Baroque; Handel's Saul with Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra in Toronto; the title role in Handel’s Almira in concert at BEMF; the role of Belinda in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, Handel’s L’Allegro and the title role of Galatea in the premiere performances of Acis and Galatea with the Mark Morris Dance Group; Handel’s Solomon with the Radio Kamer Filharmonie (Holland); Handel at Carnegie Hall with William Christie and the Yale Philharmonia; Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s; and Bach’s St. Matthew and St. John Passions with St. Thomas Choir of Men and Boys. She has also appeared as soloist at the Oregon Bach Festival and Berkeley Early Music Festival. Handel's Messiah is a signature piece, which she has performed with Bach Collegium Japan, the National Symphony Orchestra, Boston Baroque, the Colorado Symphony, the Kansas City Symphony, National Arts Centre Orchestra, Calgary Philharmonic, Nashville and San Antonio Symphonies, among others. Ms. Panthaki has also been featured in multiple concerts at Trinity Wall Street’s “Bach at One Cantatas” series in New York City. 

With her “fresh, youthful sound … with a welcome hint of steel” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch), Ms. Panthaki's repertoire extends well beyond the music of the Renaissance and Baroque. Recent engagements have included Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Houston Symphony and the Orlando Ballet; Mozart's Coronation Mass, Haydn’s L’isola disabitata, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the American Classical Orchestra; Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Orlando Philharmonic; Brahms’ Requiem with the Calgary Philharmonic and the Winter Park Bach Festival, John Tavener’s The Last Discourse with Orchestra of St. Luke’s and St. Thomas Choir of Men and Boys; Mozart’s Requiem with Music of the Baroque; Mozart’s Exsultate jubilate and Requiem with the Washington Bach Consort; Rachmaninoff’s Vocalise and Strauss lieder at the Bari International Music Festival, as well as performances of Stravinsky's Les Noces, Britten's War Requiem, and Poulenc’s Stabat Mater and Gloria.

Ms. Panthaki has championed works by women composers of the Baroque on recording and in live performance with La Donna Musicale at the Utrecht Early Music Festival (Holland), the Murten Classics Festival (Switzerland), and the Banco de La Republica series (Colombia). She is a founding member of the early music vocal quartet Gravitación, with which she has recorded medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque works. 

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 a Masters degree in Voice Performance from the University of Illinois, and an Artist Diploma from the Yale School of Music and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music. She is the winner of multiple awards at Yale University, including the prestigious Phyllis Curtin Career Entry Prize. Ms. Panthaki has served as Vocal Coach for the Yale Baroque Opera Project, and currently teaches voice lessons to graduate choral conductors and scholarship winners at Yale University.

Visit Sherezade on the web at: www.sherezadepanthaki.com