Sarah Aristidou

French soprano and agile coloratura Sarah Aristidou is renowned for her versatility, moving seamlessly between classical, contemporary, and folk repertoire, as well as live improvisation. She is regarded as one of the most innovative and creative artists of her generation and is the first ever singer to receive the Belmont Prize for Contemporary Music.

An intense and committed actress, in breakthrough performances of Ligeti’s Le Grande Macabre, Sarah Aristidou made lasting impact as Venus and Gepopo in two acclaimed new productions, marking her debut at Wiener Staatsoper under Pablo Heras-Casado, and at Bayerische Staatsoper, conducted by Kent Nagano. She recently revived the roles in concert with Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra led by Nicholas Collon at Helsinki Festival, and Musikfest Berlin. Aristidou received exceptional reviews for her performances both as Shoko in the world-premiere of Thomas Larcher’s Das Jagdgewehr in co-production with Bregenzer Festspiele and Aldeburgh Festival and as Hanako in Toshio Hosokawa’s Hanjo, marking her debut at the Bayerische Staatsoper in a new production by choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Thai artist Rirkrit Tiravanija. She also created the role of Aquella Muchacha in the world premiere of Beat Furrer's Das Grosse Feuer, marking her debut at Opernhaus Zürich. Two roles from the standard repertoire have been vehicles for many debuts including Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos at Wiener Staatsoper, Staatsoper unter den Linden, Oper Frankfurt and Semperoper Dresden, and Ismene in Mitridate at Royal Danish Theater, Malmö Oper and Staatsoper Unter den Linden.

In the 2026/27 season, Aristidou reunites with WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln and Kent Nagano for Yvonne Loriod’s La Sainte Face at Musikfest Berlin and presents Vivier’s Lonely Child with Münchener Kammerorchester led by Bas Wiegers. On the opera stage, she makes her Staatsoper Hamburg debut as Le feu / La princesse / Le Rossignol in L’enfant et les sortilèges under Vitali Alekseenok and reprises Michaela in Haas’ Koma in a new production by Romeo Castellucci for Bayerische Staatsoper.

Concert highlights of the recent seasons include her debuts with The Cleveland Orchestra and Franz Welser-Möst in Poulenc’s La Voix Humaine, filmed and released on CD, and at the BBC Proms with Ensemble Intercontemporain and Pierre Bleuse in Berio’s Recital I for Cathy. Aristidou made an acclaimed Salzburger Festspiele debut in Morton Feldman’s Neither with ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien and has since returned with Klangforum Wien and Beat Furrer conducting his own composition, Begehren, and Haas’ Koma under Bas Wiegers, and in Dusapin’s Passion with Franck Ollu conducting Ensemble Modern.

Additional concert appearances include a European tour of Boulez’s Pli selon Pli with Les Siècles and Franck Ollu, Ensemble Modern at Prague Spring Festival performing Unsuk Chin’s Akrostichon-Wortspiel and Berio’s Folksongs with Vimbayi Kaziboni and Ensemble Intercontemporain. She joined composer Max Richter for Voices at London’s Southbank Centre with Philharmonia Orchestra under Matthew Lynch and gave performances of George Benjamin’s Into the Little Hill and Mind of Fire with Staatskapelle Berlin, conducted by Finnegan Downie Dear. With WDR Sinfonieorchester and Roderick Cox, Aristidou sang Ligeti’s Mysteries of the Macabre and she first presented Abrahamsen’s Let Me Tell You with Philharmonie Zuidnederland under Duncan Ward. With Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin, she performed Schӧnberg’s Pierrot Lunaire and, conducted by the composer himself, Matthias Pintscher’s With Lilies White with Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks.

Sarah Aristidou's voice has also inspired several compositions including Aribert Reimann’s Cinq fragments lyriques, premiered with Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and Robin Ticciati and Jörg Widmann’s Labyrinth IV, presented with Boulez Ensemble and Daniel Barenboim. Further debuts in new works include Brett Dean’s Ich lausche und ich höre with the Scharoun Ensemble at Berlin’s Konzerthaus and Thomas Larcher’s The Living Mountain at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw.

She has also appeared with Berliner Philharmoniker, Orchestre de Paris, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and Orchestre National de France, working with conductors including Klaus Mäkelä, Juraj Valčuha, Aziz Shokhakimov and Ariane Matiakh.

Additional concert highlights include Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem with Lahti Symphony Orchestra and Masaaki Suzuki, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater with Gürzenich-Orchester Köln under Roth, and Bach’s St John’s Passion with Akademie für Alte Musik under Justin Doyle.

Sarah’s recording projects reflect her artistic vision—a shared silence born from the vastness of an authentic, resonant note. Her debut album AETHER (2021), together with Thomas Guggeis, Orchester des Wandels and special guests Daniel Barenboim, Emmanuel Pahud and Christian Rivet, was nominated for a BBC Music Magazine Award and featured composers ranging from Handel to Varèse as well as Jörg Widmann’s Labyrinth V (Alpha Classics). Her wider discography includes her second solo release, Enigma (2023, Alpha Classics), which was awarded the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik, as well as Thomas Larcher’s The Living Mountain (ECM), S’Agapo with Kaan Bulak (Feral Note) and Max Cooper’s EP Seme, which was performed as part of the Salzburg 2024 Easter Festival.

Aristidou received the Luitpold Prize for Outstanding Performance at the Kissinger Sommer Festival (2021) and has been twice nominated for Opernwelt’s Best Newcomer award. Off stage, Sarah is a talented photographer, capturing the beauty of the surroundings which inspire her as an artist.