NATS-LA is proud to present
Two master classes with International Opera Star
SUSAN GRAHAM
Susan Graham, mezzo-soprano
This event was partially funded by a NATS Discretionary Fund Grant.
Winter Symposium
Saturday, February 26, 2022
10AM-12PM & 1PM-3PM
San Marino Community Church
1750 Virginia Road
San Marino, CA 91108
Susan Graham – hailed as “an artist to treasure” by the New York Times – rose to the highest echelon of international performers within just a few years of her professional debut, mastering an astonishing range of repertoire and genres along the way. Her operatic roles span four centuries, from Monteverdi’s Poppea to Sister Helen Prejean in Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking, which was written especially for her. A familiar face at New York’s Metropolitan Opera, she also maintains a strong international presence at such key venues as Paris’s Théâtre du Châtelet, Santa Fe Opera and the Hollywood Bowl. She won a Grammy Award for her collection of Ives songs, and has also been recognized throughout her career as one of the foremost exponents of French vocal music. Although a native of Texas, she was awarded the French government’s prestigious “Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur,” both for her popularity as a performer in France and in honor of her commitment to French music.
This season, Graham makes her role debut as Herodias in Francisco Negrin’s production of Richard Strauss’s Salome at Houston Grand Opera and reprises her celebrated portrayal of Mrs. Patrick De Rocher, mother of the convicted murderer, in Lyric Opera of Chicago’s company premiere of Dead Man Walking. In concert, she sings Berlioz’s La mort de Cléopâtre and excerpts from Les Troyens with Donald Runnicles and the orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin at the Berlin Musikfest, revisits her signature interpretation of the composer’s Les nuits d’été with the Vancouver Symphony, and headlines the Jacksonville Symphony 2020 Gala. To complete the season, she graces a “Beyond the Aria” concert in Chicago’s Millennium Park and partners with pianist Malcolm Martineau for recitals of Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder in Berkeley’s Cal Performances series and of her Schumann-inspired Frauenliebe und -leben: Variations program in Fort Worth’s Cliburn Concert Series and at New York’s Lincoln Center.
Last season, Graham joined Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony for Mahler’s Third Symphony at London’s BBC Proms and in Berlin, Leipzig, Vienna, Lucerne, and Paris. She made her role debut as Humperdinck’s Witch in Hansel and Gretel at LA Opera, hosted “An Evening with Susan Graham” at Dallas’s Meyerson Symphony Center, sang Canteloube’s Chants d’Auvergne with David Robertson and the Sydney Symphony, headlined the Mayshad Foundation’s season-closing gala concert in Marrakech, and returned to Carnegie Hall, first with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s and then with Alec Baldwin and Leonard Slatkin for the Manhattan School of Music’s Centennial Gala Concert. To mark the 150th anniversary of Berlioz’s death, she performed Les nuits d’été with the Houston Symphony and made her New Zealand debut in La mort de Cléopâtre with the New Zealand Symphony under Edo de Waart. Other highlights of recent seasons include starring in Trouble in Tahiti at Lyric Opera of Chicago to honor the Bernstein Centennial, making her title role debut opposite James Morris in Marc Blitzstein’s 1948 opera Regina at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and appearing alongside Anna Netrebko, Renée Fleming and a host of other luminaries to celebrate the Metropolitan Opera’s five decades at its Lincoln Center home.
TESTIMONIALS FROM OUR SINGERS WHO WORKED WITH SUSAN GRAHAM
Dear Wendy and NATS Representatives,
Thank you so much for the opportunity you gave all of us to perform with such an amazing artist and person. This was one of the most enjoyable and useful experience of my life. Susan Graham was so inspiring, both from the artist and human perspective. I also learned a lot from her. I appreciated her being so picky and specific in the technique of each singer. I appreciated a lot her being so generous and spending a lot of time with each of us. The church had an amazing acoustic and I felt so free to sing in there. The pianist was amazing too. I had never sung with a pianist so attentive to singers needs.
The place was warm and cozy and the whole event was magnificently organized.
I thank you once again for this opportunity I hope there will be others like that one in the future. I will be glad to participate.
Best regards,
Agnese Gallenzi
The masterclass with Susan Graham was an incredible experience and opportunity. She was intent on giving us her complete attention and focus during the 20 minutes we each received with her. She was very good at explaining the technique she suggest we apply that actually corresponded with my teacher’s methods. She made me feel comfortable and at ease. Thank you NATS-LA for this amazing opportunity!
Sincerely,
Jessica Gonzalez-Rodriguez
The Winter Symposium 2022 hosted by NATS-LA was truly a life-changing experience! Ms. Graham is such a witty, personable character and it was an honor to be on the receiving end of her constructive comments. Her remarks were applicable to various aspects of my art song such as diction, phrasing and character. Ms. Graham's demonstrations enhanced the overall understanding of each and every individual's piece and it was incredible to witness the dramatic changes in every singer's performance after being enlightened by the insight of Susan Graham.
Viveka Saravanan
