Sharin Apostolou
Biography
Sharin Apostolou came to the attention of the operatic world after jumping in on opening night in the title role of Handel’s Rodelinda at Portland Opera. She was lauded by The Oregonian for “her lovely, high, clear voice, and her coloratura -- the dazzlingly fast music that says 'Don't mess with me' -- was exuberant…she covered the musical terrain without fear,” and by Crosscut Seattle for, “[taking] on an impossibly daunting role with fearless flair, unraveling a sweet lyric coloratura voice of real promise.”
For the 2016-2017 season, the Greek-American soprano debuts with the Center for Contemporary Opera in the US premiere of Louis Andriessen's Odysseus' Women/Anais Nin, with New York City Opera for Resphigi's La campana sommersa as well as workshops for Ted Rosenthal's jazz opera Dear Erich, and with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra as part of SWCC's 50th Anniversary Festival Fanfare performing the best of Opera and Broadway. She also returns to The Little Opera Theatre of New York as Nell Gwynn for the NY premiere of Carlisle Floyd's latest opera, Prince of Players, and to Charlottesville Opera for her first Ado Annie in Oklahoma!. This season, she will debut with Opera Southwest as a soloist in their season kickoff concert and Jemmy in William Tell, as well as Urban Arias in the title role of Florida. She will also return to Baltimore Concert Opera for William Tell, Portland Opera as a soloist on the Grand Gala, and the MidAtlantic Symphony for both their Fireworks Finale and A Toast to the New Year pops concerts. This summer, she will perform her first Baker's Wife in Sondheim's Into The Woods.
In the 2015-2016 season, she debuted Yum-Yum in The Mikado with Anchorage Opera and La comtess Adéle in Le comte Ory with Loft Opera, for which Opera News praised her "amazing vocal agility in the highly demanding coloratura challenges of the role, retaining a purity of tone throughout." She also returned to both Utah Opera and Pensacola Opera as Valencienne in The Merry Widow, Baltimore Concert Opera as Adele in Die Fledermaus, Shreveport Opera for her first Micaëla in Carmen, both Baltimore Concert Opera and Opera Delaware as Nannetta in Falstaff, and to the concert stage with the MidAtlantic Symphony Orchestra in their Holiday Joy pops concerts. In the summer of 2016, Ms. Apostolou returned to Ash Lawn Opera as Nellie Forbush in South Pacific.
In the 2014-2015 season, Ms. Apostolou was seen as Carrie Pipperidge in The Glimmerglass Festival’s critically acclaimed Carousel, Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance with Pensacola Opera, Despina in Cosi fan tutte directed by Tony Award winner Hope Clark with Opera Ebony, in The Three Divas Concert with Vero Beach Opera, performed an American Songbook recital with Opera Delaware, and covered The Messenger in the world premier of Matt Aucoin’s Crossing at American Repertory Theater, a role she workshopped with The Virginia Symphony at The Virginia Arts Festival John Duffy Composers Institute. In the summer of 2015, she had the opportunity to perform one of her dream roles- Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady at Ash Lawn Opera.
Ms. Apostolou has traveled the world performing music of the Baroque period. She made her Asian debut as Belinda in Dido and Aeneas at the Macao International Music Festival, her European debut with the Operafestival di Roma singing Serpina in La serva padrona, her David Geffen Hall debut with The National Chorale as the soprano soloist in Handel’s Alexander’s Feast, and, as a grand finalist in the Competizione dell’opera hosted by Semperoper Dresden, sang excerpts from Handel’s Ariodante with die Bremer Philharmoniker. Other highlights include Almirena in Rinaldo and the title roles in both Handel’s Rodelinda and Cavalli’s La Calisto with the Portland Opera and Portland Baroque Orchestra, Alinda in Giasone with Opera Omnia at Le Poisson Rouge, the soprano soloist in Handel’s Messiah at David Geffen Hall with The National Chorale, the US premiere of JC Bach’s Vauxhall Songs with the New England Baroque Soloists, and the covers of Fortuna in Il sogno di Scipione at Gotham Chamber Opera and Virtù and Valletto in L’incoronazione di Poppea at Central City Opera. While a Tanglewood Music Fellow, she made her Boston Symphony Orchestra debut in an all Baroque Program with Susan Graham and performed a number of duets by Monteverdi and Carissimi as part of An Evening of Opera with Mark Morris.
A frequent performer of music from the Bel Canto era, Ms. Apostolou performed Argene in the US premier of Rossini’s Ciro in Babilonia alongside Ewa Podleś under the baton of Will Crutchfield at The Caramoor Festival, Gilda in Rigoletto with Shreveport Opera, Nannetta in Falstaff at Utah Opera, Adina in L’elisir d’amore at Green Mountain Opera Festival, Baltimore Concert Opera, and Opera Delaware; Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia at both Shreveport Opera and Wichita Grand Opera, Berenice in Rossini’s L’occasione fa il ladro with The Little Opera Theatre of New York, Norina in Don Pasquale with Wichita Grand Opera, Clorinda in La Cenerentola at Portland Opera, and Clotilde in Norma at The Caramoor Festival.
As a Glimmerglass Festival Young Artist, she performed Guenevere in the YAP cast performance of Camelot and The Secretary in Verdi’s King For a Day, for which The New York Times raved, "One more performer deserves mention: as the baron’s secretary, an invented character, the soprano Sharin Apostolou stole scene after scene with her whimsical expressions and flamboyant moves."
Ms. Apostolou is also a former the Portland Opera Studio artist, where she performed Ms. Wordsworth in Albert Herring, Frasquita in Carmen, The High Priestess in Aïda, Annina in La Traviata, and Countess Ceprano in Rigoletto, while she covered Violetta, Gilda, Micaëla, The Governess in The Turn of the Screw, and Marzelline in Fidelio. While in Portland, she was seen with The Oregon Symphony as the soprano soloist in Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Vaughn Williams’ Serenade to Music, The Portland Chamber Ensemble as Miss Silverpeal in The Impressario, in BodyVox’s Foot Opera Files, and returned to the opera as Le feu/La princesse/Le rossignol in L'enfant et les sortileges.
As a member of The Bonfils-Stanton Artists Training Program at Central City Opera, she sang Noémie in the youth performance of Cendrillon, and Isabelle/Madeline in The Face on the Barroom Floor, and covered Annina in The Saint of Bleecker Street under the direction of Catherine Malfitano. She also toured as Carolina in Torroba’s Luisa Fernanda with the Tulsa Opera Studio.
She lives in Wilmington, DE with her husband, tenor Ryan MacPherson, and fluffernutter, Django. She can often be found knitting, experimenting with gluten free baking and cooking massive amounts of Greek food, practicing Bikram yoga (to offset the aforementioned goodies), and pining for a french bulldog.