Sara Duchovnay Hilley

Soprano Sara Duchovnay has been hailed by The San Francisco Examiner as “clarion voiced” and OperaWire described her as “dynamic and expressive”, further adding that she “sang with warmth and luster” and “moved with elan, thus matching her vocal vibrancy”.  Of her role debut as Nedda in Pagliacci with Opera Roanoke, the Roanoke Times praised her “nuanced portrait of an unhappy woman” and “her high notes [which] rang out with ease at the swelling climaxes in both her first act aria and in her love duet with Silvio.” 

In recent seasons, Sara made her debut with the Grand Teton Music Festival, covering Cio-Cio San and singing Kate Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly under the baton of Sir Donald Runnicles, and returned to the Grand Teton Music Festival, performing selections from Copland's Old American Songs under the Baton of Benjamin Manis. She also made her Swiss debut performing Alma Mahler's Fünf Lieder with the Musikkollegium Winterthur Orchestra under the baton of Kalena Bovell, performed Strauss' Vier Letzte Lieder and Michael Tippett’s A Child of Our Time with the Shenandoah Bach Festival under the baton of Deanna Tham, and made her Madison Symphony Orchestra debut as the soprano soloist in Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis under the baton of John DeMain.

Sara recently debuted her concert program "Songs of Resilience" with Maxhaus Düsseldorf in November, 2025. This very special program features the works of Jewish composers who were banned by the Nazis. Many of these composers were women who were quite successful before the war, but whose work is now largely unknown to modern audiences. It is Sara's mission to change that. Sara has also been honored to serve as Artist in Residence for the Görlitz/Zgorzelec Jewish Remembrance Week — performing concerts in Germany and Poland. As the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, these are projects which are very near to her heart.

Sara’s voice and repertoire have developed quite drastically since she last appeared with Pacific Opera Project as Zerbinetta (Ariadne auf Naxos) in 2015. Having begun her career with light lyric and coloratura roles — such as Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), Blondchen (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Nanetta (Falstaff), and Musetta (La bohème) — she now finds herself at home in fuller lyric repertoire including Donna Anna and Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), Alcina (Alcina), Nedda (Pagliacci), and Liù (Turandot); as well as lirico-spinto/Jugendlich dramatischer soprano roles like Cio-Cio San (Madama Butterfly), Elisabeth (Tannhäuser), Salome (Salome), and Ariadne (Ariadne auf Naxos).

Sara lives in Berlin, Germany with her husband, tenor Clay Hilley, and holds degrees from The Hartt School and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. In her spare time, you can find her at a flea market or antique mall, looking for treasures to add to her collection of vintage clothes and antique jewelry.