“Leaving no question as to whose name is in lights,” (Opera Today), Mezzo-soprano Sarah Heltzel consistently “sets the stage ablaze with her vocal and dramatic pyrotechnics” (Houston Chronicle). Since her debut in Seattle Opera’s Der Ring Des Nibelungen, Heltzel has garnered critical acclaim in diverse repertoire, from Eboli and Carmen to Offred and Desirée Armfeldt.

Engagements in 2025 include Herodias in Salome at Harvard, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni for Western Plains Opera, Desirée Armfeldt in A Little Night Music for St. Petersburg Opera, and Mrs. Mullin in Carousel for Boston Lyric Opera. Other recent engagemnts include the title role of Carmen and Musetta in La Bohème with Western Plains Opera, Olga Finzi-Contini in the world premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon’s The Garden of the Finzi-Continis with New York City Opera, Caroline Herschel in Zaid Jabri’s world premiere of Southern Crossings with Barnard, Death in the east coast premiere of Tom Cipullo's The Parting with Chelsea Opera (Syracuse and NYC). Pre- pandemic, Heltzel made her Australian debut as Offred in The Handmaid’s Tale in Melbourne, sang Carmen for Wichita Grand Opera, and Maddalena in Rigoletto at Simon Hammerstein’s notorious club The Box in NYC.

After her debut with Seattle Opera, Heltzel returned to the company as Flora in La Traviata, Siegrune in Die Walküre, and covered Paula in Florencia en el Amazonas, Flosshilde in Das Rheingold and Waltraute, Flosshilde and 2nd Norn in Götterdämmerung. A recipient of grants from The Wagner Society of New York, she has sung Fricka in Minnesota Concert Opera’s Mini-Ring with Jay Hunter Morris, Richard Paul Fink and Lori Phillips.

Among the many 20th and 21st century English language roles Heltzel has performed are Jo in Little Women (Opera on the James); Saleswoman in Brokeback Mountain, Trio Alto in Angels in America and the Ugly Duchess in Alice in Wonderland (Chin), all with New York City Opera; Mary in A Danger to Us All: Typhoid Mary (Kiesewalter/Ziff) at Joe's Pub/The Public Theater; Desirée and Charlotte in A Little Night Music (Syracuse, Phoenicia) and multiple new roles for American Opera Projects, American Lyric Theater, Phoenicia Festival and theater company Compagnia de’ Colombari.

Regional role highlights include Eboli in Don Carlo, Carmen, Santuzza and Lola in Cavalleria Rusticana, Azucena in Il Trovatore, Der Komponist and Dryade in Ariadne auf Naxos; Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, Maddalena in Rigoletto, Musetta in La Bohème, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, amd Romeo in I Capuleti e i Montecchi, with houses including Indianapolis, Toledo, Tacoma, Syracuse, Amarillo, Wichita, Nevada, Phoenicia, Opera on the James and Pacific Northwest.

Select concert repertoire includes Verdi’s Requiem (Wichita Symphony, Symphony Syracuse, Back Bay Chorale, Carnegie Hall), Handel’s Messiah (Seattle Symphony, Norwalk Symphony), Janacek's Glagolitic Mass (Seattle Symphony); Rossini’s Stabat Mater (Dartmouth College), Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony (Boston Philharmonic, Carnegie Hall, Minot Symphony Orchestra), Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder (Gordon College Symphony), Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde (Boston Chamber Music Society), and Respighi’s Il Tramonto (Red Rocks Music Festival, String Orchestra of Brooklyn).

After completing studies at the Manhattan School of Music, Heltzel joined the Seattle Opera Young Artist Program. She is a grant recipient and prizewinner from The Wagner Society of New York, The Liederkranz Foundation, The Gerda Lissner Foundation, the Chautauqua Opera, the Career Bridges Competition, the Presser Foundation, and the Palm Beach Opera Vocal Competition. www.sarahheltzel.com