Sherezade Panthaki, soprano enjoys ongoing musical collaborations with many of the world’s leading conductors including Nicholas McGegan, Masaaki Suzuki, Martin Haselböck, Stephen Stubbs, Nicholas Kraemer, and Gary Wedow. Combining “her full, luxuriously toned upper range” (The Los Angeles Times) and “astonishing coloratura with radiant top notes” (Calgary Herald) with a specialty in historically informed performance practice, she is internationally renown for her interpretation of Bach, Handel, and dozens of early music oratorios, operas, and cantatas. Recent seasons have included performances with the New York Philharmonic, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Bach Collegium Japan, Wiener Akademie (Austria), NDR Hannover Radiophilharmonie (Germany), the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Boston Early Music Festival, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra (Canada), Toronto Symphony (Canada) St. Louis Symphony, Houston Symphony, The Choir and Orchestra of Trinity Wall Street, and Voices of Music. No stranger to classical and modern concert repertoire, she is in high demand for her interpretations of Mozart, Haydn, Mendelssohn, Brahms, and Poulenc, as well as new music World Premieres by Reena Esmail and Trevor Weston. Her discography includes Handel’s Joseph and his Brethren with Nicholas McGegan and Philharmonia Baroque, Bach’s Mass in B Minor and solo Bach cantatas with the Cantata Collective, and Graupner's opera Antiochus und Stratonica with the Boston Early Music Festival. Born and raised in India, Ms. Panthaki holds graduate degrees with top honors from the Yale School of Music and the University of Illinois. She is a founding member and artistic advisor of the newly-debuted Kaleidoscope Vocal Ensemble - a vocal octet celebrating racial and ethnic diversity in performances and educational programs of early and new music. Ms. Panthaki is a frequent guest clinician and masterclass leader across the United States. She has taught voice to graduate music students at Yale University, and currently heads the Vocal program at Mount Holyoke College.

BACH   | Ascension Oratorio | Calgary Philharmonic

“Panthaki’s voice is a force of nature and quite exceptional, as indeed is her remarkably accurate tuning and the evident ease with which she tossed off even the most difficult passages.”

—Kenneth DeLong, Calgary Herald

         | Arias | Berkeley Festival / Cantata Collective

“Sherezade Panthaki’s voice is perfectly suited to Bach. It is lush, sumptuous, and technically flawless.”

— James Roy MacBean, The Berkeley Daily Planet

         | Cantatas | Bethlehem Bach Festival

“Ms. Panthaki displayed a voice well focused and wonderfully agile, riding her rapid vibrato up and down passagework and trills with admirable fluency, and combining brilliance with a dark, plumlike tone.”

—  Barrymore Laurence Scherer, The Wall Street Journal

         | Cantata BWV 51 "Jauchzet Gott in allen landen" | Orchestra of St. Luke’s

“The soprano part, which covers two octaves and calls for a high C, and the solo trumpet part, which at times trades melodic lines with the soprano on an equal basis, are both extremely virtuosic. What a joy it was to hear this work performed by Panthaki and Bauguess! It was glorious and memorable….” — CVNC

         | Cantata BWV 63 “Christen, ätzet diesen Tag” / Magnificat | Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra |         

Masaaki Suzuki, conductor

"the most moving singer of the evening...displaying consummate musicianship and a fully invested expressivity.”

— San Francisco Classical Voice

         | Cantata BWV, 202 “Wedding” | Berkeley Festival / Cantata Collective

“…the vocal agility and lush tone of Sherezade Panthaki created wonders. I can’t imagine hearing a better vocal rendition of this great cantata than the one offered on Saturday at St. Mark’s Church by Sherezade Panthaki… Bach at his best.” — James Roy MacBean, The Berkeley Daily Planet

| Mass in B Minor | Cantata Collective | Nicholas McGegan, cond. (recording)

The soloists, happily, are all of a high standard: in the ‘Laudamus te’, star soprano Sherezade Panthaki is charming and sprightly….The soprano-tenor duet ‘Domine Deus’ is a highlight.” - Gramophone

        | St. Matthew Passion | Yale Schola Cantorum | Masaaki Suzuki, cond.

“...the luminous soprano Sherezade Panthaki floated her arias with pure, penetrating tone, mining deep emotion from the subtle shaping of the lines.” — The New York Times

         | St. Matthew Passion | Bach Society of St. Louis | A. Dennis Sparger, cond.

"Sherezade Panthaki's crystalline singing and deeply felt interpretations left me wishing that Bach had provided another soprano aria or two." — St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“BACH’S WORLD” | Calgary Philharmonic | Ivars Taurins, cond.

“No one in attendance will forget the radiant, pure singing of Sherezade Panthaki, an Anna Netrebko of baroque music. With a beautiful, clear voice, perfect tuning, and unstoppable virtuosity, she was impressive in everything she sang, from heartfelt arias by Stefani and Kuhnau to the Italianate eloquence of Bach’s solo cantata Non sa che sia dolore and the final Stabat Mater of Pergolesi in its Bach transcription.”

— Kenneth DeLong, Edmonton Journal

BRAHMS | Requiem | Calgary Philharmonic | Gabor Takacs-Nagy, cond.

“The performance included two superb vocal soloists in baritone Brett Polegato and soprano Sherezade Panthaki…Her performance of the beautiful fifth movement was, if anything, more radiant than her previous performance, her voice perfect for the part in tone and amplitude. Managing the challenging tessitura of the music with elegance and no evident strain, she sang this difficult music as well as I have heard it live, achieving a transcendent quality as her voice soared over the orchestra. Still a young singer, she has a great future.” — Calgary Herald, Kenneth DeLong

Soprano Sherezade Panthaki and baritone Joshua Hopkins gave concertgoers some of the best music of the evening…Panthaki transcended technical brilliance, and her Ihr habt nun Traurigkeit was earnest and comforting. — Philip de Oliveira, Cool Cleveland

CLEREMBAULT/RAMEAU | Les Delices

“Sherezade Panthaki made a dramatic entrance with the bucolic Clérambault cantata. She has a commanding but responsive voice over which she exerts complete control. While she could easily fill a much larger space than Herr Chapel with her gorgeous sound, she uses her voice with wonderful restraint and applies a whole range of emotional color to put the text across. This became more obvious in the Rameau, which gave her and her instrumental colleagues more varied material to work with.” – Cleveland Classical

GRAUPNER | Antiochus and Stratonica “Ellenia” | Boston Early Music Festival

"Sherezade Panthaki’s flexible soprano earns so much sympathy that Ellenia’s Act 3 rage aria becomes a welcome catharsis as well as a solid virtuoso vehicle." "This is an outstanding work and performance." – Andrew Sammut, EMAg

HANDEL | Acis and Galatea | Mark Morris Dance Group / Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra | Nicholas McGegan, cond.

“Sherezade Panthaki as Galatea swore eternal love in crisp, clear tones, as the dancers swirled around…Panthaki was especially moving.” — Carla Escoda, Huffington Post

“Ms. Panthaki’s gleaming tone makes a strong impression…” — Alastair Macaulay, New York Times

             | Acis and Galatea | MMDG/Handel and Haydn Society of Boston | Nicholas McGegan, cond.

"Sherezade Panthaki soared effortlessly as Galatea." — Patrick Valentino, Boston Classical Review

“Sherezade Panthaki (Galatea) brought great technical skill and musicality to the title role. Panthaki possessed a focused, shimmering tone…her penetrating voice held the audience rapt." — Melanie O’Neill, Examiner.com

| Apollo e Dafne | Daphne | 4x4 Baroque Music Festival

“Sherezade Panthaki’s soprano, as Daphne, was also strong yet delectably sweet. Her opening aria, a celebration of an unfettered soul and an unattached heart, was a thing of special beauty with its accompaniment of pizzicato strings and soaring recorder…” — James R. Oestreich, New York Times

             | Deborah “Deborah” | NDR Radiophilharmonie | Nicholas McGegan, cond.

“On this evening, soprano Sherezade Panthaki stands out and superbly embodies the role of Deborah - and at the same time, that of a strong woman, with her sovereign charisma. Her voice has the spark of magic that propels the heart of the oratorio, connecting the individual scenes with pressure and breathlessness, making the narrative extremely vivid."” -- Göttinger Tageblatt

“The music is wonderful Handel, heavenly beautiful in the arias when Sherezade Panthaki hails the victoriously radiant sun with mighty soprano.” – Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung

             | Gloria | Windsor Symphony Orchestra | Ivars Taurins, cond.

“The amazing singer in the group was soprano Sherazade Panthaki, a modern day Emma Kirkby, with astonishing coloratura and radiant top notes. Her vocal focus tight and precise, she sang Handel’s difficult music as if it were totally easy, including the fastest Rejoice Greatly I have ever heard in which the runs were actually articulated.” — Calgary Herald

             | Gloria | Baroque Artists of Champaign-Urbana | Chester Alwes, cond.

“This “Gloria” was gloriously sung by Panthaki, a soprano with a lovely plangent timbre and dazzling coloratura technique, who has acquired what amounts to a cult following at Bach concerts and other events in this area… the sound of Panthaki’s soaring voice resounding from the upper reaches of Holy Cross church was especially thrilling… her singing was spectacular.” — Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette

| Joseph and his Brethren | Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra | Nicholas McGegan, cond.

“… it becomes increasingly difficult to find words that will adequately convey the multifold splendor of her singing. It is full-bodied and rich in coloration, yet her phrases move with all the litheness and grace of a dancer…She reaches notes that other singers can only eye with envy, and does so with effortless precision. She tears through the most demanding passagework without batting an eye or missing a beat. Her diction is flawless. She’s a phenomenon, and only getting more marvelous with each passing year.”

— Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle

“The second great strength of this recording is the Asenath of Sherezade Panthaki; as fine as Yvonne Kenny is for King, Panthaki is even better, with a voice of requisite beauty and technique, and artistry to burn. Only recently has she begun to appear in recordings, but expect to hear much, much more of her soon, if there is any justice in the world.”— James A. Altena, Fanfare Magazine

| Laudate pueri | Tafelmusik | Ivars Taurins, cond.

"The soloist is soprano Sherezade Panthaki, who was a treat the whole evening...Panthaki demonstrated how bigger, lusher voices can also dance nimbly around the technical requirements of Baroque runs and musical ornaments."

— John Terauds, Musical Toronto

 “Sherezade Panthaki had breathtaking technique in her melismatic sections and her voice soared in its upper range…Once again Panthaki, Gagné and Woody both in solos and together, demonstrated why they are each in demand internationally for historically informed performances; they sang with intelligence, virtuosity and expressiveness. ” — David Richards, Toronto Concert Reviews

         | Messiah | New Jersey Symphony Orchestra | Nicholas McGegan, cond.

“Panthaki was a tour de force as a performer, conveying the “angel” recitatives with a powerful sound and bell-like top register. The soprano signature aria of Messiah is “Rejoice greatly,” which Panthaki delivered with seemingly endless breath control and ornaments racing well above the notated staff. In addition, she displayed a particularly translucent sound with little vibrato when singing “How Beautiful Are the Feet of Them that Preach the Gospel of Peace,” an aria not always performed in Messiah productions." -- Princeton Town Topics

             | Messiah | Nashville Symphony | Giancarlo Guerrero, cond.

“the best of the vocal soloists was soprano Sherezade Panthaki, a rising star...Panthaki sang with a bright, pure and powerful sound. She tossed off difficult melismatic passages with seeming ease. Her top notes were positively translucent.” — ArtsNash

             | Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne | Princeton Pro Musica

“It takes an unusual singer to fill the Chapel acoustic as a soloist, and especially in the upper registers, Panthaki’s voice was clear all the way to the last pew.

“Panthaki had her superstar moment singing Handel’s ‘Eternal Source of Light Divine,’ an aria from the composer’s Ode for the Birthday of Queen Anne, originally composed for solo alto and trumpet which has been recently heard more in the soprano world. This aria is loaded with long melodic lines, sustained ornaments, and a demand for almost superhuman vocal stamina. Singing from memory, Panthaki had no trouble drawing out the lines with perfect control over the aria and space…sent vocal sound soaring into the rafters of the Chapel…mesmerized the audience throughout the aria.”

            —Nancy Plum, Town Topics

             | Ode for St. Cecilia’s Day | Master Chorale of South Florida | Brett Karlin, cond.

“Excerpts from Handel’s 1739 Ode for St. Cecilia’s Day spotlighted Sherezade Panthaki in arias and recitatives of operatic dimensions….Her high soprano floated effortlessly in the coloratura of “The Trumpet’s Loud Clangor”, the trumpet obbligato assayed with flashy brilliance by Jeffrey Kaye. “But What Art can Teach” was vocally radiant, Panthaki’s light, expressive sound recalling the young Benita Valente, and she tackled the roulades of “Orpheus Could Lead” at whirlwind tempo…Panthaki sailed through the trills and ornamentation, capping the aria with two impressive high C’s.” — South Florida Classical Review

             | Ode for St. Cecilia’s Day | Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra | Nicholas McGegan, cond.

“…the evening’s chief glory was the radiant singing of soprano Sherezade Panthaki — a breathtaking combination of expressive ardor, tonal clarity, technical mastery and dramatic vividness… this was one for the books…She endowed Handel’s phrases with a nobility that did nothing to lessen their communicative grace. She negotiated the long and sometimes awkward melodic leaps that are scattered throughout the score without missing or fudging a note, yet she did it with enough fluidity that the effect never seemed angular. And her tone — lush, focused, full of iridescent colorings — was exquisite throughout…Cecilia herself could only have been proud.” — Joshua Kosman, SF Chronicle

“When she sang solo in praise of St. Cecilia, Panthaki’s sincerity was palpable, and her trill superb. In her “soft complaining flute” duet with flawless flautist Stephen Schultz, she may have chosen to leave all softness to the instrument, but her rise to the top of her range was marvelous. Of special note was her perfect, non-showy, rapid coloratura in the air, “Orpheus could lead the savage race.” Hers is not a virginal sound, but when she and the chorus sang, “The trumpet shall be heard on high,” like a trumpet she did resound.”

— Jason Victor Serinus, SF Classical Voice

“The ode is a vocal work which Handel penned for a favourite soprano but it is doubtful whether she was more expressive than Sherezade Panthaki, whose radiant rendering of “What passion cannot music raise and quell!” was nothing less than magisterial.” — Allan Ulrich, Financial Times

             | Salve Regina | Music of the Baroque | Paul Agnew, cond.

“Panthaki’s seamless legato and fervent commitment to words and music in Handel’s “Salve regina,”…had this rarity falling most gracefully on the ear.”

— John Von Rhein, Chicago Tribune

             | Samson | NDR Radiophilharmonie | Nicholas McGegan, cond.     

“Panthaki sings her most daring and brilliant aria in this performance of Haendel's "Samson”—and thereby totally delights colleagues and audience alike….No wonder that this woman—according to the libretto —slays seemingly invincible Samson's strength: with her exuberant virtuosity, with her elegance and her powerful radiance, Panthaki is a new, trailblazing type among the female singers of old music -- she is a highly dramatic soprano of the Baroque, an "Isolde" in one of Haendel's oratorios. When she sings, it is not simply an aria, it is an event.” —Hannoversche Allgemeine

            | Saul | "Michal" | Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra | Ivars Taurins, cond.

“Sherezade Panthaki’s Michal was glorious, her clear, crystalline soprano piercing Koerner Hall, making her character come alive in her purity and goodness.” — Robert Harris, The Globe and Mail

“As Michal, soprano Sherezade Panthaki, was outstanding. Her command of elaborate coloratura passages is almost beyond belief. Yet Panthaki can also be softly sweet-voiced when the libretto calls for it.”

— James Roy MacBean, Berkeley Daily Planet

“…soprano Sherezade Panthaki, singing throughout with an effortless, be-jeweled tone and masterly technique.” — Steven Winn, San Francisco Classical Voice

             | Aria selections | Bari International Music Festival

“This year’s novelty was the presence of a singer, in the person of Sherezade Panthaki, whose voice was able to multiply the emotional meaning of the music. The soprano has literally enchanted the audience with her amazingly beauty voice of liquid gold. An artist who would be very interesting to see performing into a theater, in a larger context, to test her extraordinary potential, which can be projected far beyond the baroque repertoire. Her admirable art of producing the sounds with perfect technique and taste, the balance in the registers, the rich harmonics, the control in the agility and the brightness of the high-notes. Highly requested abroad, she is a true wonder we will certainly be hearing about in Italy.” — Enzo Garofalo, Fame di sud

HAYDN | L’isola disabitata | American Classical Orchestra | Thomas Crawford, cond.

“There is little doubt, however, that Soprano Sherezade Panthaki had stolen the show, with her acting as well as her singing… Panthaki’s awe-inspiring performance had infused an operetta-class production with opera-class quality, and her arias likewise seemed to elevate the audience [temporarily] above the comic gags, and to supply the narrative with most of its emotional weight.” — Steve Nagel, Classicalite

“Sherezade Panthaki’s Silvia was marvelous: the full evolution of her character was reflected in singing that moved from light sweetness to exuberant, vigorous sensuality. In her artistry, Panthaki made her Silvia a young woman with neither inhibition nor fear; Panthaki took every possible risk with Haydn’s music and made it all feel like happiness in the process of being discovered.” — Jean Ballard Terepka, Theater Scene                           

JACQUET DE LA GUERRE | Chatham Baroque

“She sings in a vibrantly lively and engaging manner, has a clear, pure voice of ample power and beauty, and has a stage presence of much warmth, conveyed to the audience by an almost constantly pleasant smile….An aria, ‘Lieux écartez, paisible solitude’ (Desolate places, peaceful loneliness), was sung as a lesson in bel canto by Ms. Panthaki. One beautifully sustained phrase melted into the next, over and over; her phrasing and diction were flawless.” – OnStage Pittsburgh

MOZART | Mass in C Major, “Coronation Mass” | American Classical Orchestra | Thomas Crawford, cond.

Panthaki’s voice, more operatic in tone and strategy than that of her three colleagues, is capable of both huge, rich volume and sensuous delicacy; her upper register is unstrained and lyrical. Her “Agnus Dei” was a marvel: her “Miserere” was tenderly, passionately felt, half womanly and half seraphic, and her nearly improvisational pacing and ornamentation, to which Crawford was perfectly attuned, resulted in a gorgeous prayer that was not just Panthaki’s, but ours as well. —  Jean Ballard Terepka, Theater Scene

             | Requiem | Master Chorale of South Florida | Brett Karlin, cond.

Sherezade Panthaki’s clear top range, sans vibrato, registered deep emotion in the Baroque slides and curves of the solo passages. — Lawrence Budmen, South Florida Classical Review

ORFF | Carmina Burana | Houston Symphony

“Soprano Sherezade Panthaki sang with clarity and strength, with crystalline top notes in her most tender aria.”

— Houston Chronicle

        | Carmina Burana | Bach Festival Society of Central Florida | John Sinclair, cond.

“Soloists added to the work’s thrilling surprises: Soprano Sherezade Panthaki, warm in her lower register before hitting the stratosphere…” — Matthew J. Palm, Orlando Sentinel

RAMEAU | Les Indes Galantes - Les Sauvages | “Zima” | Opera Lafayette | Ryan Brown, cond.

“soprano Sherezade Panthaki…brought a silky legato tone and impeccable intonation to the role of the Indian princess, Zima. In her final showpiece, “Regnez, Plaisirs et Jeux,” she had more than enough sound to fill the hall with a laser-like precision. The embellishments added to the final section were brilliant, including a polished high note at the end.  — Charles T. Downey, Washington Classical Review

“The soprano Sherezade Panthaki poured her generous, golden sound into the part of Zima, and her joyful duet in the final scene with the clarion baritone Victor Sicard, as Adario, was radiant.”

— Corinna da Fonesca-Wollheim, New York Times

RACHMANINOFF  | Vocalise | Bari International Music Festival

“An exaltation of the beauty of the human voice that found in Sherezade Panthaki the perfect interpreter…”

— Houston Chronicle

SCARLATTI | Tigrane | “Meroe” | Bloomington Early Music Festival

“…deftly handles the fireworks that Scarlatti sets before her….controls a trumpet of a voice, flexible, powerful and penetrating.  It’s a thrill to experience.  Panthaki is a wonder.” — Bloomington Herald Times

STRAUSS | Lieder | Bari International Music Festival

“the artist has confirmed her excellent quality: soft roundness and clarity of sound, homogeneity in the registry, secure and resonant top notes, elegant phrasing, perfect pitch and clear and sculpted pronunciation.”

— Bari Fame di Sud

WESTON | A New Song | Washington Bach Consort | Dana Marsh, cond (recording)

         “ Some of the most delightful music I’ve ever heard…The exquisite performances are simply a joy to

hear….Panthaki again reigns sovereign with clear luminous lines” – Christopher Hoh, The Living Church

"Soprano Sherezade Panthaki — with her spot-on intonation and clear tone — shines here and throughout the whole work". – Jeffrey Baxter, EMAg

TAVENER | The Last Discourse | St.Thomas Church | David Hill, cond.

“But in this case, another miracle was born in the soprano voice of Sherezade Panthaki…I had heard her before in both Bach and Mendelssohn, and have never ever forgotten the purity, the almost unearthly beauty of Ms. Panthaki’s voice. Not only is her vocal line clear, chaste and with consummate perfection, but in the areas of this complex work where she must suddenly rise to the highest notes, it was accomplished without effort but seemingly an inevitable movement. In vocal terms, hers is a force of nature.” — ConcertoNet