Award-winning mezzo-soprano Sarah Mesko, an Honors College and J. William Fulbright College of Arts & Sciences alumna, will present a homecoming recital at 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 22, in the Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall. Tickets are $25 at the door and benefit The John Harrison Opera Foundation.

Praised by The Washington Post for her “consistently beautiful sound,” Mesko is in her second season with the Washington National Opera Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program. There she has sung roles such as Alisa in Lucia di Lammermoor and will sing Dorabella in the emerging artist performances of Così fan tutte. She also has performed with the Santa Fe Opera and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. She recently made her European debut in Paris with Mercury Baroque and the Théatre de Gennevilliers, and her Carnegie Hall debut in Weill Recital Hall. Mesko is also active as a concert artist, having presented a diverse repertoire at venues such as the American Bach Soloists Academy, the Washington National Cathedral Choral Society, the Aspen and Hot Springs music festivals, and the Arkansas, Fort Smith and Northwest Arkansas symphonies.

In addition to performing, Mesko will host a question and answer session on pursuing a career in music, open to the general public, at 2:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 19 in the Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall.

“I’m hoping to give back and share what I’ve learned recently,” Sarah Mesko said. “It’s little things like what to wear to an audition, vocal health tips, young artist programs, everything I’ve learned so far about pursuing a career in classical singing. The sooner you get this information, the better.” 

Sarah Mesko’s faculty mentor, Janice Yoes, an associate professor of music, recalls that Mesko’s promise was evident at her audition for admission to the music program.

“She had an extraordinary poise about her, usually found only in much older performers, a trait which continued to serve her well throughout her career at this institution,” Janice Yoes said. Mesko sang her first leading role in the UA Opera Theatre as a freshman and made great progress as a singer during her years on campus.

“It became evident that she had an unusually beautiful timbre of voice with an uncanny ability for coloratura singing in an extended range, and an outstanding ability to communicate in many languages,” Yoes said.

A Bodenhamer fellow in the Honors College, Mesko excelled academically, as well. She earned a bachelor of music degree, summa cum laude, in vocal and flute performance in 2008. In her senior year she won first place in the National Society of Arts and Letters Vocal Competition and the Franco-American Vocal Academy Grand Concours de Chant. Most recently, she won first prize in Virginia Opera’s Bravissimo Society Competition and the Arthur and Mae Orvis Foundation Prize in the Liederkranz Competition. This summer she will sing with San Francisco Opera’s prestigious Merola Program.

Mesko also holds a master of music degree in vocal performance from Rice University.

For her homecoming performance Mesko has selected songs and arias by Bizet, Debussy, Honegger, Hundley, Mahler, Perti, Ravel and Rossini. She will be accompanied by Aurélien Boccard, an award-winning Swiss pianist. Boccard is studying with Jura Margulis at the University of Arkansas and since 2009 has assisted Christopher Lacy in the opera program.

Parking for the Sunday recital is available at no charge in the parking garage located off of Stadium Drive.