A native of Wisconsin, GRAMMY Award-winning soprano Dr. Sarah Brailey enjoys a versatile career that defies categorization. Praised by The New York Times for her “radiant, liquid tone,” and “exquisitely phrased” singing, and by Opera UK for “a sound of remarkable purity,” she is a prolific vocalist, cellist, recording artist, and educator.

Among her many career highlights, Dr. Brailey has appeared as a soloist with The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra in Handel’s Messiah, serenaded the Mona Lisa with John Zorn’s Madrigals at the Louvre in Paris, performed Handel’s L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato with the Mark Morris Dance Group, and recorded the role of The Soul on the world premiere album of Dame Ethel Smyth’s The Prison, for which she received the 2020 GRAMMY Award for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album. Other notable projects include Prince Ozias in Scarlatti’s La Giuditta with Chicago’s Haymarket Opera, the Strauss Four Last Songs with The Experiential Orchestra, John Zorn works with Barbara Hannigan at the Elbphilharmonie; and David Lang’s Song of Songs with Pam Tanowitz Dance at London’s Barbican Centre.

Dr. Brailey is a featured soloist on several GRAMMY-nominated albums, including New York Polyphony’s Sing Thee Nowell, Christopher Cerrone’s The Branch Will not Break with Wild Up, The Clarion Choir’s recording of the Rachmaninoff All-Night Vigil, Alexander Kastalsky’s Memory Eternal to the Fallen Heroes, and Maximilian Steinberg’s Passion Week, as well as the world premiere recording of Du Yun’s Angel’s Bone, winner of the 2017 Pulitzer Prize in Music. She sang the role of the impish fairy Verveine on the world premiere recording of Le dernier sorcier by Pauline Viardot, also featuring mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton and bass-baritone Eric Owens. Additional discography includes multiple world premiere recordings with Lorelei Ensemble, a group that is working at the forefront of vocal innovation and has commissioned over 70 new works for treble chamber vocal ensemble.

Dr. Brailey’s teaching is deeply informed by her active performing career and collaborations with many of today’s leading composers. In the teaching studio, she fosters a flexible vocal technique that centers musicianship and artistic expression. Her goal is to guide students in discovering their unique artistic voice while developing mindful, sustainable learning habits.

Committed to advancing the study of vocal chamber music in academia, Dr. Brailey founded C8dence, a vocal chamber ensemble dedicated to performing contemporary repertoire, with a particular focus on exploring the vast expressive and technical capabilities of the human voice. The ensemble offers students the opportunity to arrange or compose works for performance, to gain pedagogical experience through leading rehearsals, and to collaborate directly with professional composers as well as student composers from the School of Music.

As a guest artist, Dr. Brailey has conducted master classes and artist residencies at institutions throughout the United States, including the Peabody Conservatory, Longy School of Music, Ithaca College, Harvard University, Duke University, Cornell University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, among others. She has served on the summer faculties of the St. Thomas Fifth Avenue Girl Chorister Course in New York City, the Madison Bach Musicians, the Northwestern Bach Academy, and the Nashotah House Seminary.

Dedicated to building artistic communities and opportunities for young artists, Dr. Brailey is a co-founder of Just Bach, a monthly concert series in Madison, Wisconsin where she is also the Artistic Director of the Handel Aria Competition, a showcase for emerging professional singers dedicated to highlighting Handel’s extensive vocal repertoire.

Dr. Brailey is a member of Beyond Artists, a coalition of artists that donate a percentage of their concert fees to organizations they care about. Devoted to helping sustain a healthy planet, Dr. Brailey supports NRDC, Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness, and the Animal Welfare Institute. She lives on a farm outside Madison with a menagerie of rescued animals including Victor, the retired Amish horse, mules Russell and Joanie, Harriett the lamb, and an inimitable goat named Edna. www.SarahBrailey.com.