Samantha Hankey

With “much elegance and youthful tone” (Financial Times), mezzo-soprano Samantha Hankey is increasingly lauded for her powerful command of the stage and as “a complete dramatic presence with a voice as lustrous as it is molten” (Opera Magazine).

During the 2025–26 season, Hankey makes her house debut at the Staatsoper Berlin as La Muse/Nicklausse in Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann and with the Boston Symphony Orchestra as Erika in Barber’s Vanessa. At the Wiener Staatsoper, she appears as Dorabella in Mozart’s Così fan tutte, as well as in two Richard Strauss roles—Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier and the Composer in Ariadne auf Naxos, a role she reprises later in the year at the Glyndebourne Festival. In concert, she joins the Oratorio Society of New York at Carnegie Hall and collaborates with pianist Myra Huang in performances at Art Song Chicago. Today’s concert marks her Cal Performances debut.

Recent highlights include debuts with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Ravinia as Idamante in Mozart’s Idomeneo; New National Theatre Tokyo in the title role in Bizet’s Carmen; and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, as Dorabella in Mozart’s Così fan tutte. She has sung the Fox in Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen at Detroit Opera, Santuzza in Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana at Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Octavian in R. Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier at the Metropolitan Opera, Mélisande in Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande at Santa Fe Opera, Dorabella at Opernhaus Zurich; and Hänsel in Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. She also made her role debut as Donna Elvira in Mozart’s Don Giovanni in the Bayerische Staatsoper’s acclaimed new production during the 2024–25 season and has appeared at the Staatsoper Dresden, Den Norske Opera Oslo, the Dallas Opera, and the Grand Théâtre de Genève.

In 2018, Hankey made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Pantalis in Boito’s Mefistofele and she has since returned for multiple productions. From 2019–21, she was a member of the Bayerische Staatsoper’s ensemble, where she performed numerous leading roles including Octavian, Hänsel, and Cherubino.

Equally active in recital, Hankey has performed at the Bard Festival, Wigmore Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Liedfest Antwerp, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and with Il Pomo d’Oro in the title role of Handel’s Agrippina. She has also co-created leading roles in David Herzberg’s The Rose Elf and The Wake World, both to great acclaim.

Hankey’s numerous awards include First Prize and the Media Prize at the Glyndebourne Cup (2018), prizes at Operalia, a Richard Tucker Foundation grant, and recognition as a Metropolitan Opera National Council Grand Finals winner (2017).

A graduate of the Juilliard School, Hankey hails from Massachusetts, where she began her studies at the Longy School of Music and the New England Conservatory.