About this Artist
With “much elegance and youthful tone” (Financial Times), mezzo-soprano Samantha Hankey is increasingly lauded for her powerful stage presence, paired with a voice admired for its “dusky focus and hypnotic allure” (The Times, London).
Hankey’s 2023/24 season marks debuts in leading roles at the Royal Opera House (Dorabella, Così fan tutte), Semperoper Dresden (Cherubino Le nozze di Figaro), Detroit Opera (Fox, The Cunning Little Vixen), and Lyric Opera of Kansas City (Santuzza, Cavalleria Rusticana). She performs as soloist with Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin and returns to the Metropolitan Opera as Stéphano in Roméo et Juliette (Met Live in HD) and Opernhaus Zürich as Dorabella in Così fan tutte.
Last season, Hankey appeared in Ainadamar at Scottish Opera, made debuts at Santa Fe Opera (Mélisande, Pelléas et Mélisande) and Chicago Lyric Opera (Hänsel, Hänsel und Gretel), performed her Carnegie Hall recital debut, and starred as Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier at the Met (Live in HD). She held a Fest contract at the Bayerische Staatsoper from 2019 to 2021 and has performed at Den Norske Opera, Dallas Opera, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Bard Music Festival, Wigmore Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She co-developed the lead roles in David Hertzberg’s The Rose Elf and The Wake World.
Hankey received her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School, followed by multiple prizes at the Glyndebourne Cup and Operalia competitions and a Career Grant from the Richard Tucker Music Foundation. She reached the Grand Finals of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and won top prize at the Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition.