Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Coit.
Hi Sarah, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I’m originally from Spring Hill, FL. I wanted to be an actor, but the only game in my town was a community theatre that mostly put on productions of Golden Age musicals. It seemed that taking voice lessons was the best course of action and I started at age 14. My teacher was Dr. Roberta Moger. She had a choral conducting background and was very focused on giving her students a solid technical foundation. She introduced me to classical singing and I was hooked. I went to the University of South Florida for Theatre Performance and Music Studies and the University of Michigan for my Master’s in Voice Performance. My journey to Utah started after grad school when I auditioned to be in Utah Opera’s Resident Artist Program and was given a spot. The Utah Opera RA program is an amazing program that lets you sing small roles in their mainstage productions, cover leading roles, and sing outreach shows at schools all across the state of Utah. The company has a program that offers free educational shows to every school in the state of Utah on a 3 to 5 year rotation. I got to see so much of the beauty of Utah, along with meeting many great people. The opera company is also an incredible training ground for young artists. In my time as a Resident Artist, I sang many roles with Utah Opera and was even named a National Semifinalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (I got to sing on the stage of the Met!). After finishing my two years as a Resident Artist, I went on to perform at Santa Fe Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre (now Detroit Opera), Seattle Opera, Arizona Opera, Opera Santa Barbara, West Edge Opera, and San Diego Opera (among others). Utah Opera invited me back to sing Rosina in Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville”. Actually, I was invited back twice, since it was the day of our final dress rehearsal when we were shut down due to Covid-19 in March of 2020. We eventually returned to do the show in Fall of 2021 and it was a blast! I’ll be returning to Utah Opera this Spring to sing the role of Laurene Powell Jobs in Mason Bates’ Grammy-winning opera “The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs”.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
I think any career in the arts includes struggle. There’s a massive amount of competition and I think that competition can feel so loaded. We’re not competing for the fastest time or the highest jump. It can feel like someone behind an audition table is judging the worth of your soul against other singers. Your voice is so personal, since it’s a part of who you are and your daily existence. Trying to navigate that and figuring out what success means to YOU (not what it means to someone else or what someone else tells you it should mean) can be very difficult. I feel lucky since, at the end of the day when I’m feeling a little defeated and I wish I could be home with my boyfriend and my dog in Philadelphia, I still love what I do and it lights me up every time I do it.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
My voice type is mezzo-soprano. I tend to be hired most often to sing Baroque or Contemporary music. However, I’ve sung almost every other style in between. I’m proud and extremely grateful that I’m currently a working singer. This business is so competitive and to be regularly hired is a blessing that I always dreamed of, but was never sure I’d get to experience.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sarahcoit.com
- Instagram: @srosecoit
- Facebook: @scoitsings
- Twitter: @SarahCoit
- Youtube: Sarah Coit
Image Credits
Suzanne Vinnik (Blue dress)
Dana Sohm (Red dress)
Copyright 2017 Kent Miles (Black and white dress)
Karli Cadel (Sword)
