Sara Womble

Emerging Artist, Boston Lyric Opera (I am also a freelancer, singing often in the New England area, and this summer (2016) making a role debut in San Diego)

Class Year

2010

Professional Background

After graduating from Duke, I moved to Boston to pursue my MM in Voice Performance. Since finishing my masters, I've performed regionally quite a bit, and have recently landed probably the most exciting gig I've gotten to date: I'll be a 2016-2017 Emerging Artist at Boston Lyric Opera! (I can explain more about what that means if requested--I don't want to overload this form with information. Feel free to call or email if you'd like to hear more!)

How has being an English graduate from Duke University helped shape your professional success?

A career in opera may not seem like the obvious choice for an English major, but the degree, and what I learned in the English Department at Duke has helped me immeasurably. The skill of deeply reading and analyzing a text is just as applicable to an opera libretto, and even to the notes on the page, as it is to a novel or poem. At the risk of sounding horribly arrogant, I'm often praised for my acting and nuanced character interpretation--I credit my Duke English experience directly. This one may seem obvious, but the work ethic that Duke helped shape for me has been possibly my greatest tool in forging a career in this crazy business. It sounds trite, but talent probably accounts for about 10% of success in this business--the rest is relentless hard work, imagination, creativity, and perseverance in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds, and a constant onslaught of rejection. Again, I could go on quite a bit, but don't want to stretch the parameters of this form too far. Please feel free to contact me if you have questions or would like more information!

Sara Womble