Biography
Praised by The New York Times for her “gracefully shaped vocal lines,” The Washington Post for her “confident and penetrating account of line” and The Albany Times Union for her “dead-on surety of pitch and attractive tone,” Sonya Alexandra Knussen, contralto, is equally at home performing new music and established repertoire. Knussen has also premiered works at festivals in the U.S. and U.K.
As a featured soloist, she has performed with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Bach in Baltimore, Cathedral Choral Society of Washington, Washington Bach Consort,
Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival and Tanglewood Festival Chorus at venues including the Snape Maltings, Symphony Space and Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood. Her operatic roles include Bianca in The Rape of Lucretia, Alte Nonne in Sancta Susanna, Rebecca Nurse in The Crucible and Florence Pike in Albert Herring. Knussen is a seasoned ensemble singer performing regularly with the Choir of the Basilica of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Chantry Early Music and her own ensemble, hexaCollective.
Sonya teaches at Severn School, Severna Park and the High School Performing and Visual Arts magnet program in Anne Arundel County. She was the first ever director of the SING DC choral outreach program and preparatory classes for the Children’s Chorus of Washington, and has been a vocal animateur for projects with English National Opera and the BBC Proms.
Media experience includes blind direction of cameras throughout live performances at Elliott Carter’s Centenary Celebrations at Tanglewood, serving as producer for recordings of Carter's Boston Concerto and Cello Concerto, a music assistant on recordings of works by August Read Thomas, Oliver Knussen and Hans Werner Henze and researcher for Sounds from the Big White House for BBC 4, as well as score-reader for LWT/Channel 4’s series on 20th-century orchestral music with Simon Rattle entitled Leaving Home.
Sonya Alexandra Knussen is Artistic Director and Founder of vocal ensemble hexaCollective.