Praised for her “elegance and youthful tone” (Financial Times), and hailed as “a complete dramatic presence with a voice as lustrous as it is molten” (Opera Magazine), mezzo-soprano Samantha Hankey is recognized as one of today’s most compelling operatic artists.
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Hankey’s 2025/26 season features major house debuts with Staatsoper Berlin as La muse/Nicklausse in Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann, the Boston Symphony Orchestra as Erika in Barber’s Vanessa, and the Wiener Staatsoper, where she is engaged for four productions this season, appearing in several signature roles. Firstly, she will reprise her “extraordinary” (Opera News) interpretation of Octavian in Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier, with performances in Tokyo and Vienna, then brings her “crystalline vocal tone and fabulous Mozartian technical mastery” (London Unattached) to the role of Dorabella in Mozart’s Così fan tutte, performed in Monte Carlo. Hankey will also appear in Vienna as Der Komponist in Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos, a role she will reprise later in the season at the Glyndebourne Festival.
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On the concert stage, Hankey appears with the Oratorio Society of New York for Mozart’s Great Mass in C Minor at Carnegie Hall and joins Boston Baroque for a New Year’s Celebration, featuring the music of Mozart and Handel. Later in the season, she will appear in recital alongside pianist Myra Huang, in a program based around Schumann’s Dichterliebe. The duo is featured as part of Art Song Chicago, Cal Performances in Berkeley, California, and the 89 Reade concert series in New York. She will also appear in an intimate recital for Opera Naples as part of their 2026 Festival Under the Stars series.
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Recent seasons have taken Samantha to The Metropolitan Opera as Octavian, the New National Theatre Tokyo in the title role of Bizet’s Carmen, and to Opernhaus Zürich and The Royal Opera House as Dorabella. She was hailed as “a major artist of her generation” (New York Times) in her house and role debut as Mélisande at the Santa Fe Opera, she debuted at Lyric Opera of Chicago as Hänsel, and made her role debut as Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana at Lyric Opera of Kansas City. Hankey was also met with rave reviews for her “utterly exquisite” (The Herald) portrayal of Federico García Lorca in Golijov’s Ainadamar at Scottish Opera.
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Hankey’s accolades include First Prize and the Media Prize at the inaugural Glyndebourne Cup, multiple awards at Operalia, and grants from the Richard Tucker Music Foundation. She was a Grand Finals winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, received First Prize at the Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition, and was awarded a Leonore Annenberg Arts Fellowship in the program’s final year.
A native of Massachusetts, she is a graduate of The Juilliard School, where she earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Her musical training began at the Longy School of Music and the New England Conservatory.
More About Samantha Hankey
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From 2019-2021, Hankey held a Fest contract at the Bayerische Staatsoper, where she made notable appearances as Hänsel in Hänsel und Gretel, Wellgunde in Das Rheingold, Zweite Dame in Die Zauberflöte, and Carmen in Marina Abramović’s new production of 7 Deaths of Maria Callas at the Opernfestspiele. She made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Pantalis in Mefistofele, and returned to The Met for Adriana Lecouvreur, Carmen, Das Rheingold, Götterdämmerung, and Rigoletto, debuting a myriad of named roles within a single season. Other recent house debuts include Opernhaus Zürich, Den Norske Opera, The Dallas Opera, and Grand Théâtre de Genève.
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On the concert stage, Hankey has performed the title role in Handel’s Agrippina with Il Pomo d’Oro in Turku, Finland, where she was praised by Turun Sanomat for her “marvelously rich mezzo.” She has also appeared at the Bard Festival in Lili Boulanger’s Faust et Hélène, at Carnegie Hall in Handel’s Messiah, in solo recital at London’s Wigmore Hall with Malcolm Martineau, and on leading New York City stages including Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art with Brian Zeger.
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Hankey’s career includes awards in numerous national and international competitions. In 2018, she won both First Prize and the Media Prize at the inaugural Glyndebourne Cup. The same year, she took home multiple prizes at the Operalia Competition, winning top awards in the general division as well as the Birgit Nilsson Prize for her interpretation of the work of Richard Strauss. In 2018, she also received a Career Grant from the Richard Tucker Music Foundation, following an earlier 2016 award of a Sara Tucker Study Grant. In 2017, she was named a Grand Finals Winner by the Metropolitan Opera National Council, took First Prize in the Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition, and received a Leonore Annenberg Arts Fellowship in the foundation’s final year.
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Hankey is a graduate of The Juilliard School, where she received both her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees and was recognized with several distinctions, including the Peter Mennin Prize for Outstanding Achievement and Leadership in Music and The Juilliard Kovner Fellowship.
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A native of Marshfield, Massachusetts, Hankey embraced her passion for music from an early age, beginning with her performance in a local production of Annie at age six. She sang with the Boston Children’s Chorus for several years as a youth, attended the distinguished Walnut Hill School for the Arts, and pursued pre-college vocal training at the Longy School of Music and the New England Conservatory.
"ALSO IMPRESSIVE WAS HIS DIANA, SAMANTHA HANKEY, THE MOST INGENIOUS & ECONOMICAL ACTOR IN THE COHORT OF TEN SINGERS.
A SQUARE-SHOULDERED BEAUTY WITH A MAPLE-FLAVORED MEZZO,
HANKEY WAS ABLE TO INDICATE WITH ADMIRABLE SUBTLETY WHEN SHE WAS MEANT TO BE THE "REAL" DIANA AND WHEN SHE WAS MEANT TO BE THE GOD GIOVE DISGUISED AS DIANA."
OPERA NEWS
"OF THE LOVERS, SAMANTHA HANKEY MAKES THE BIGGER IMPACT AS A PUNK-ISH ROSINA WHO IS CLEARLY GOING TO BE TOO MUCH OF A HANDFUL FOR HER HAPLESS AND DELUDED GUARDIAN.
SHE SANG WITH POWER & POISE & Held the attention even on a crowded stage."
PLAYS TO SEE
"THE OTHER FEMALE STANDOUT WAS SAMANTHA HANKEY, EQUALLY GRIPPING IN DEEPLY AFFECTING ACCOUNTS OF "PARTO, PARTO," FROM MOZART'S LA CLEMENZA DI TITO AND JOAN'S ARIA FROM TCHAIKOVSKY'S THE MAID OF ORLEANS.
One admired not only the handsomeness of hankey's rich mezzo, but also its power,
A RESOURCE SHE DREW ON ONLY SELECTIVELY TO HEIGHTEN EXPRESSION."
MUSICAL AMERICA
