Since her German debut in 2018, Dresden-based French-Japanese-American soprano Sarah Hayashi has been a sought-after opera and concert singer with a particular focus on early music. She most recently appeared with the Chaconne Ensemble in May 2024 at the International Göttingen Handel Festival, where she performed cantatas by George Frederic Handel in several concerts with great success. Career highlights in 2025 include, among others, her debut at the Innsbruck Festival of Early Music with the roles of Leocasta and Fortuna in Vivaldi's Il Giustino, the soprano solo in Bach's St. John Passion with the Oratorio Choir and the New Chamber Ensemble Potsdam at the Friedenskirche Sanssouci Palace, the soprano solo in Handel's Messiah with the National Philharmonic Orchestra at the Strathmore Music Center in Maryland, as well as the CD recording of Giacomo Carissimi's motet Confitebur tibi for CPO Records with the Boston Early Music Festival.
During the Pandemic, Sarah Hayashi appeared as Le Feu in the award-winning film adaptation of Ravel's L'Enfant et les Sortilèges in a co-production by Vopera and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
In 2021, Sarah Hayashi made her debut at Theater Erfurt and has been living in Germany since. She sang, among other roles, Adele (Die Rache der Fledermaus), Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro) and Findus in Niclas Ramdohr's children's opera Petersson und Findus at Theater Erfurt, Rosa and Quicksilber in Humperdinck's Dornröschen in a concert performance with the Singakademie Dresden, and the Rooster in Attila Kadri Sendil's Die Bremer Stadtmusikanten at the Staatstheater Cottbus. In 2024, Sarah Hayashi also performed the title role in Handel's Semele in a semi-staged performance with the Studio Chor Berlin and Capella Vitalis in the Kammermusiksaal of the Berlin Philharmonie. In spring 2025, she will return to Theater Erfurt as Sursulapitschi in the world premiere of Tobias Rokahr's Jim Knopf and the Wild 13.
Sarah Hayashi has also quickly established herself as a concert singer in the oratorio repertoire. Her repertoire includes the soprano parts in C.P.E. Bach's Magnificat, Mozart's Requiem, Handel's Ode for St. Cecilia's Day, and Bach's Christmas Oratorio (cantatas I-III). In 2024, she performed Mendelssohn's Elias with the Dresden Singakademie and the Nidaros Domchor Trondheim for the first time at the Dresden Kreuzkirche. In 2026, she will perform Mozart's Great Mass in C minor with the Ensemble Frauenkirche in the Dresden Frauenkirche, among other works.
The Chaconne Ensemble, under the artistic direction of Sarah Hayashi, specializes in repertoire for soprano and continuo from the 17th and 18th centuries and, in addition to the Göttingen Handel Festival, has performed its versatile programs at the Handel & Hendrix House London and the Utrecht Early Music Fringe Festival, among others.
Born in New York State and raised in Maryland, Sarah Hayashi received her musical training at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, as well as at the Royal College of Music in London, and the Wales International Academy of Voice in Cardiff.