Sarah Arikian
Sarah Arikian, a native of Richmond, Virginia, has been involved in the New York music scene for over a decade. Those who have heard Ms. Arikian describe her voice as one of sparkling beauty and brilliance. Her compelling
stage presence and dance background enables her to bring life to the characters she portrays. She has exquisitely performed many roles including Yum-Yum in The Mikado, Giulietta in Capuleti e i Montecchi, Polly Peachum in Die Dreigroschenoper, The Squirrel in L'Enfant et les Sortilleges, Sesto in Giulio Cesare, and Papagena in Die Zauberflöte. Sarah has been praised by Joshua Rosenblum of Opera News Online for "infus(ing) her sustained notes with passion".
In February 2006, Sarah appeared as a soloist for The Gateway Institute in their "A Night at the Opera Gala" at The Rich Forum in Stamford, CT. She worked with The Remarkable Theater Brigade throughout March and April in a new opera for children entitled SHOT!, composed by Christian McLeer. Sarah then appeared as Frou-Frou the Grisette in The Merry Widow with The Village Light Opera Group. Later that summer, she had a three month engagement as downtrodden suffragette Rachel Stitcher in A.F.R.A.I.D., a contemporary opera based on the writing of journalist/suffragette Franny Fern. This work was composed by Susan Stoderl and performed by the Brooklyn Repertory Opera.
With her extensive experience in dance and drama, Sarah excels at musical theater. In the Fall of 2006, she performed the role of Mother in Ragtime with The Heights Players and spent the last part of the year on tour with American Family Theater. Sarah portrayed Russian immigrant Ninya Petrova and held the position of Dance Captain.
In 2007, Sarah has experienced some unique opportunities. She appeared as Queen Guinevere in the New York production of "Unsheathed! Arthur: The Musical", composed by Ethan Wagner and directed by Christopher Simon. Sarah had the wonderful opportunity to perform at the renown Belleayre Music Festival in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia, and an opera for children entitled "The Three Little Pigs". In October 2007, Sarah appeared as Polly Peachum in The Height's Players production of Kurt Weill's The ThreePenny Opera. The rest of 2007 included a production of The Merry Widow with Jacksonville Lyric Opera, and an appearance at The Duplex with cabaret sensation La Diva (Albert Walsh).
Sarah graduated from The Manhattan School of Music with a Bachelor's degree in Classical Vocal Performance. She received her Master's degree from New York University, also in Classical Voice. Sarah currently studies voice with Alan Dornak, and coaches with Alan Wager and David Sheafer. She lives in Brooklyn, NY with her husband Chad Coe, a jazz guitarist.