DSE Artist Feature: Sarah Shafer, soprano

DSE: How are you spending your time during this period of cancelled concerts and at-home isolation?

SS: I’m finding that working out is really helping me to have an outlet for my energy that is usually spent traveling and rehearsing, so I’m exercising most days. I’m also rereading old favorite books (just finished Jane Austen’s Persuasion), walking a lot, and taking a long time to warm up my voice every day to keep myself in good shape. I have also found coloring books to be a fun and easy creative outlet while watching TV!

DSE: What are your thoughts on singing in DSE’s Bach Masterworks concert?

SS: Whenever I get the opportunity to sing Bach, I am thrilled, so you can imagine how happy I was to sing on an all-Bach concert with DSE. Singing his music is always nourishing to my mind, heart, and soul, and this concert was a wonderful mix of old favorites and new discoveries. I remember the joy of rehearsal days working on these arias, and just that happy feeling of playing Bach with friends — there is nothing like it. I also remember that at the time we performed this, I was watching the series “John Adams” and then we got to perform at Old Pine Presbyterian Church, where he attended while in Philadelphia for the Continental Congress — it blew my mind and made me so grateful to live in Philadelphia where we have so much history at our fingertips.