Shepherd School alumna gets Grammy

Sasha Cooke ’04 receives award for Best Opera Recording

SASHA COOKE

American mezzo-soprano and Shepherd School of Music alumna Sasha Cooke ’04 received the 2011 Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording for her performance as Kitty Oppenheimer in the Metropolitan Opera premiere of John Adams’ “Doctor Atomic.” The 54th Grammy Awards were held in Los Angeles Feb. 12.

Praised in The New Yorker for her “fresh, vital portrayal, bringing a luminous tone, a generously supported musical line, a keen sense of verbal nuance and a flair for seduction,” Cooke has performed at such famed venues as Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center and is the recipient of numerous professional awards and honors.

Cooke has a Bachelor of Music degree from Rice’s Shepherd School of Music, where she specialized in vocal performance. She also has a master’s degree from the Julliard School. For more information on Cooke,visit http://sashacooke.com.