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The soprano Sherezade Panthaki was born and raised in India. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from West Virginia Wesleyan College, a Masters Degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Illinois, and a Licentiate Diploma in Performance from the Trinity College of London Panthaki is the winner of six distinguished awards from Yale University, including the School of Music's coveted Career Entry prize, awarded to launch the career of a student who demonstrates exceptional promise and talent as an artist. In 2011 she graduated with an Artist Diploma from the Yale School of Music and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music - a highly academic as well as performance-intensive program that accepts one soprano a year - where she was soloist under the direction of internationally renown Maestro Masaaki Suzuki.
Sherezade Panthaki has been praised by critics as “luminous” and “exquisitely supple” (The New York Times), "a radiant voiced stand-out" (The Washington Post), "full of light" (The Goldberg International Magazine, UK), and is in constant demand as an opera and oratorio soloist. Previous engagements include solo repertoire spanning from Hildegard von Bingen to Igor Stravinsky with the Portland Baroque Orchestra (Oregon), the COGE Choir and Orchestra (Paris), the Carmel Bach Festival (California, 2006), the Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra, American Opera Theater (Washington D.C), the Bloomington Early Music Festival Opera (Indiana), the Iowa Bach Festival, Ensemble Voltaire (Indianapolis), Ars Musica (Chicago), the Catacoustic Consort (Cincinnati), the Apollo Chorus of Chicago, the Tafelmusik Baroque Institute (Toronto), the Boston Early Music Festival (fringe), the Bach Society of St. Louis, the Amherst Early Music Festival (Vermont), the American Boychoir (Princeton), and the Madison Early Music Festival (Wisconsin). As a frequent performer with the Boston- based La Donna Musicale, Panthaki has championed the works of women Baroque composers in concert at numerous international festivals, including the Utrecht Early Music Festival (Holland), the Murten Classics Festival (Switzerland), and the Banco de la Republica series (Colombia). She has recorded Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque repertory withe Gravitacion Early Music Ensemble; her discography also includes recordings of 17th and 18th century music by women composers with La Donna Musicale.
An acclaimed specialist in early music and particularly in the works of J.S. Bach, Sherezade Panthaki's 2011-2012 season as soprano soloist includes J.S. Bach's St. Matthew Passion (BWV 244) and Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610 with Masaaki Suzuki (Rome, Florence, Milan, New York city), J.S. Bach's Mass in B minor (BWV 232) with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Nicholas McGegan (San Francisco), J.S. Bach's St. Matthew Passion (BWV 244) with Dwight Oltman at Baldwin-Wallace College Bach Festival, George Frideric Handel's Solomon with the Netherlands Radio Orchestra (Holland), Francis Poulenc's Stabat Mater with British conductor Simon Carrington; J.S. Bach's St. John Passion (BWV 245) with the Saint Thomas Choir of Men & Boys Fifth Avenue and director John Scott, G.F. Handel and Antonio Vivaldi with the Yale Choral Artists under guest conductors William Christie and Mark Morris, as well as a USA concert tour of J.S. Bach, G.F. Handel, and A. Vivaldi with the Rebel Baroque Orchestra. In New York city she is a frequent soloist with the most accomplished early music ensembles, including the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, the Choir and Orchestra of Trinity Church Wall Street, and the Clarion Music Ensemble. She is quickly gaining recognition as a sought-after recording artist with five recordings to her credit, and several projects in production. In 2006, she became a founding member of the acclaimed early music vocal quartet Gravitación, with whom she has toured and recorded extensively.
For six years, Sherezade Panthaki served as Director of Music at First Presbyterian Church of Urbana, Illinois, and taught on the Voice Faculty at Millikin University, Decatur, Illinois. In 2011, she was invited to join the staff of the Yale Baroque Opera Project, working as publicist and principal vocal coach for undergraduate singers at Yale University. She is represented worldwide by Schwalbe and Partners Artist Management Agency in New York city. |
