This season for HGO, two-time Grammy-winning artist Sasha Cooke performs the role of Venus in Tannhäuser. Previously for the company, she performed as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni (2024), Thirza in the company’s new production of The Wreckers (2022), in Verdi’s Requiem (2017), and as Magnolia Hawks in Show Boat (2013); she also gave a Live from The Cullen recital with Kirill Kuzmin for HGO Digital in 2021. Her 2023-24 season included the role of Laurene Powell Jobs in The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs with San Francisco Opera; her role debut as Brangäne in Tristan and Isolde at Opéra de Rouen; and performing in the world premiere of Joby Talbot and Gene Scheer’s The Diving Bell and the Butterfly at Dallas Opera. Engagements during the 2024-25 season include the role of Emilie Ekdahl in the world premiere of Fanny and Alexander at La Monnaie de Munt, Brangane in Tristan and Isolde at the Gstaad Festival, and Marguerite in The Damnation of Faust at the Bard Music Festival. Concert appearances include Alma Mahler Five Lieder at Royal Festival Hall and LA Philharmonic; Schönberg Gurrelieder and Mahler Symphony No. 2 at Wiener Konzerthaus, Beethoven Symphony No. 9 at St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, and Shostakovich Jewish Folk Poetry at Carnegie Hall. Cooke has sung at the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, English National Opera, Opéra National de Bordeaux, and Gran Teatre del Liceu, among others, and with over 80 symphony orchestras worldwide. As a dedicated recitalist, Cooke has performed at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall, the Kennedy Center, Alice Tully Hall, The Wigmore Hall, and the 92nd St Y. Cooke is a recipient of the 2011 and 2019 Grammy Awards for Best Opera Recording for her performances in Doctor Atomic and The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, respectively. In 2022, her album with pianist Kirill Kuzmin, How do I find you, was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Solo Album. She is the co-director of the Lehrer Vocal Institute at the Music Academy of the West.