The mezzo-soprano Samantha Hankey, from Marshfield, Massachusetts (USA), sang with the Boston Children’s Chorus in her youth. She later graduated from the renowned Juilliard School, where she received several distinctions and won numerous prizes at major vocal competitions.

From 2019 to 2021 she was a member of the ensemble of the Bavarian State Opera, where she also made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York as Pantalis in Mefistofele. Further debuts soon followed at the Zurich Opera House, the Norwegian National Opera, Dallas Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Liceu in Barcelona, the Paris Opéra, the Glyndebourne Festival and the Grand Théâtre de Genève.

Recent engagements include her debuts with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Ravinia Festival in Idomeneo and at the New National Theatre Tokyo as Carmen, appearances as Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier at the Met and the Bavarian State Opera, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni at the Munich Opera Festival 2025, Dorabella in Così fan tutte at the Royal Opera House in London and in Zurich, Santuzza in Cavalleria rusticana in Kansas City, Mélisande in Pelléas et Mélisande in Santa Fe, Hänsel in Hänsel und Gretel in Chicago, the Composer in Ariadne auf Naxos at the Liceu, and Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro at the Bavarian State Opera.

Highlights of the 2025/26 season include her debuts at the Berlin State Opera as Muse/Nicklausse in Les Contes d’Hoffmann and with the Boston Symphony Orchestra as Erika in Vanessa. She appeared as Octavian during the Vienna State Opera’s tour to Japan, and will sing Dorabella during the company’s guest performances in Monte Carlo. She concludes the season by returning to Glyndebourne as the Composer.