Soprano and Violinist Samantha Burke, is a student of Amy Shoremount-Obra (The Metropolitan Opera, NY) at Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music(M.M) and Erika Kiesewetter (Concertmaster of The American Symphony, NY) (B.M.) from Bard College. She also studied closely with renowned Hungarian musicologist Peter Laki, to develop a senior thesis on the opera Otello from Desdemona’s point of view and later, a concert lecture series focused on making opera accessible to audiences. She is a frequent scholarship recipient and has won awards in Georgia and New York competitions.
Ms. Burke is the founder and director of The Atlanta Concert Series, which seeks to promote young artists’ involvement in the Atlanta community through a series of performances in the Fall and Spring. Previous engagements through the project have included: a recital series started in 2014 featuring eclectic young New York pianist, Richard Hagemann, young artists from all over the United States, and musicians from Georgia State University, and a 2016 concert of Spirituals and pieces by African American composers held at the Center for Civil and Human Rights in solidarity with Black Lives Matter Movement.
As a young child, her love of music led her to perform in the Sydney Opera House with the Atlanta Young Singers at the age of 13.
In the Spring of 2021, Samantha premiered a Recital-Documentary called ‘Essential’. Also in the Spring of 2021, she debuted the title role of Carmen in the Brooklyn College Opera. During the 2020 season, Ms. Burke was scheduled to perform as a soloist with The New York Philharmonic at David Geffen Hall with the Brooklyn College Conservatory choirs (canceled due to Covid-19), additionally she was a semi-finalist in the New York Art Song Preservation Society Competition. In 2022 Samantha will prepare the role of Elle (in Poulenc’s La Voix Humaine) to be performed in the Summer of 2022. Samantha has sung for numerous masterclasses featuring artists such as: International Soprano, Angel Blue, and American composers, Ricky Ian Gordon, Libby Larsen, and Jake Heggie to name a few.
As a musical ambassador and activist, Samantha was asked to perform for the 2018 United Nations education fundraiser and convention as a young artist with the International Masters of Opera NYC.
Her recent competition credits include: 2017 Finalist of the Kennedy Center’s VSA competition, 2016 Regional Finalist for the National Association of Teacher Singers. Both at home to recital and opera, Ms. Burke has performed numerous recitals and roles most notably: Second Lady in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte (Miami Opera Institute and The American Symphony), and the title role in Massenet’s Manon (The American Symphony), and portrayal of principal roles in Bard College’s Opera Workshop. She was the Soprano soloist for the 2014 Southeastern premiere of Alan Bullard’s A Light in the Stable oratorio.
Equally proficient as a violinist, Ms. Burke has studied the violin for over 20 years and has performed in orchestras and ensembles in Atlanta, Philadelphia, and New York. Her concert repertoire spans from Mozart to Shostakovitch, and modern music as well. At the age of 15, she won the Tim Redovian Scholarship of Atlanta, and attended the Philadelphia International Music Festival hosted by members of the Philadelphia Philharmonic.
Samantha holds a Masters in Opera from Brooklyn College’s Conservatory and a Bachelor’s from Bard College. She has successfully been teaching voice, violin, and piano privately for over 12 years.
Take A Listen.
The Poem as Mask from Ben Moore’s cycle, “So Free Am I”
Pianist: Violetta Zabbi
Elegie by Jules Massenet
Pianist: Richard Hagemann
