Opera Saratoga Presents America Sings!

Artists of color have historically been underrepresented on the classical concert stage. This performance highlights American mezzo-soprano Cierra Byrd, and pianist Juan Lázaro. Byrd is in her third year with The Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. She made her Met debut as Bertha in the historic, Grammy-nominated production of Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones. This season, she returned to the Met stage as Woman of Crete in Mozart’s Idomeneo. Recently, Ms. Byrd appeared in Mahler’s Symphony No.3 with The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Marin Alsop. She is a recent graduate of Peabody Conservatory, from the studio of Margaret Baroody and Denyce Graves.

Pianist Juan Lázaro’s talents were discovered by the Bulgarian pedagogue Boriana Savova and began performing at the age of six. Lázaro has given numerous solo and collaborative recitals on New York concert stages such as Steinway Hall, Yamaha Hall, and Weill Recital Hall. A graduate of the Juilliard school (2015) and the Manhattan School of Music (2019), Lázaro is currently a Lindemann Young Artist at the Metropolitan Opera.

AMERICA SINGS is hosted in partnership with Caffè Lena, and will also be live-streamed to the public for free. Viewers are encouraged to contribute through a virtual donation portal to support both Opera Saratoga and this concert series.