Welcome | Susanne-Burgess

Susanne
Burgess
Soprano

Press

"Here 'dazzle' is too mild a word... Susanne Burgess is perfection incarnate. Such sweet power, such a gem of world-class gift and highly-honed skill! A tall, slender beauty, she presents all those immensely challenging vocal decorations and flourishes and warbles and stratospheric notes with such ease"

- Broadway World

“Susanne Burgess was the revelation of the evening... nothing this glamorous, accomplished soprano can not do. Her evenly produced, warmly appealing timbre, is wedded to a triphammer technique that allows for utter ease in essaying even the trickiest fioratura, trills, roulades, leaps and runs. That she can equally dazzle in vocal fireworks and plangent, heartfelt expression is further testament to her gifts. Nothing more to say except watch her star continue to rise."

-Opera Today

“Simply put, Susanne Burgess’ OTSL debut in Don Pasquale is a moment. The soprano’s performance here is one of the best witnessed on the company’s stage in years. Several of her solos received boisterous acclaim from the audience throughout the night. Her coloratura passages are delivered with effortless charm, and her comedic instincts are as sharp as her high notes are stratospheric.."

-Reviews STL

“Soprano, Susanne Burgess stands out with a powerful voice and a brilliant timbre. Her platinum Cleopatra leaves elegant phrases on a trembling note as if begging for compassion...like a bird perched on the branch of her full voice, plump yet whispered - a voice prepared to echo hauntingly in piano...”

-Olyrix

“Helena was felicitously impersonated by Susanne Burgess, her buoyant, fetching soprano informing her utter devotion even as it belies the heartache of her rejection. Her amorous wishes are melodiously dispatched, and she suffers her slights with arching legato and solidly limned tirades.”

-Opera Today

"Susanne Burgess was youthful and energetic, and sang especially well... She demonstrated a resonant top register, soaring well above the orchestration... Burgess sang with ease, tossing off ornamented lines as well as a flawless cadenza reaching high Es.”

-Town Topics

"...the flatout best in show comes from Susanne Burgess. A star on the rise, the British-American soprano has a slate of productions in front of her. Those productions will be well-served. Her comedic timing was spot on. Her voice is a force and her range is as wide as whatever ocean these pirates sail across."

- ArtsATL

"...all lyric splendor, with a rich, even legato. Burgess blossomed into her warm timbre, while she sang and radiated a genuine affection that uplifted the audience... with a unique combination of precision and wonder. She highlighted best energy that Leoncavallo intended and was a delight to see perform"

- Parterre Box

"The absolute highlight of the show... mastering high-flying coloratura while swinging from the rafters... stopping the show with earnest plush lyric tone."

- The Atlanta Constitution

Susanne Burgess demonstrated wonderful vocal prowess, taking the character to sonorous and extravagant heights...Her rendition was rich and full of sassy body language, with Burgess humorously and sensually breaking the fourth wall"

-Opera Wire

Bio

Biography

Susanne Burgess announced herself as an operatic star with her Summer 2025 performances of Norina in Don Pasqule for Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. For her outstading performances, OTSL awarded her the Mabel Dorn Reeder Award, and Burgess has been invited to return in future seasons. In the coming seasons, Burgess will make a series of important company and role debuts, beginning with Florida Grand Opera’s production of Kevin Puts’ Silent Night, where she will be heard as Anna Sørensen in Tomer Zvulun’s production. Additionally, Burgess takes on the monumental Four Heroines in Offenbach Les contes d’Hoffmann for Florentine Opera, and debuts with Opera Philadelphia in the world premiere of Gregory Spears’ Sleepers Awake. Her next season sees some role reprises with all new company debuts with Gilda in Rigoletto at Pittsburgh Opera and Musetta in La boheme at Opera Omaha.

Additionally, Burgess continues her association with The Metropolitan Opera, appearing as Frasquita in Carrie Cracknell’s production of Carmen. Having already sung over 20 performances at The Met, Burgess made her debut as Countess Ceprano in Rigoletto and was most recently heard as a Servant in Strauss’ Die Frau ohne Schatten.

Recent performances for Burgess include her debut in the title role of Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor for Gulfshore Opera, Helena in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream for The Atlanta Opera and Des Moines Metro Opera, and appearances at Festival d’Aix-en-Provence as a member of their Académie, including performances with renowned conductor Emanuelle Haïm.

Burgess enjoys a special relationship with The Atlanta Opera, having been a Glynn Studio Artist. With the company, Burgess has been heard as Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance, Nedda in Pagliacci, and was a member of their “Reimagine Opera” series during the COVID-19 pandemic, singing Lucy Brown in The Threepenny Opera and covering the role of Micaëla in Carmen.

An accomplished performer on the Competition circuit, Susanne was awarded First Prize & the Audience Choice Award at both the Shreveport Opera Singer of the Year Competition and the Opera Birmingham Vocal Competition, First Prize at the National Opera Association’s Argento Competition, Second Prize at Opera Mississippi John Alexander Competition, and Winner of the GA district in both 2021 and 2022 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. She was also the recipient of a Career Grant from The Gerda Lisner Foundation in New York City and appeared twice in the Finals of the Tenor Viñas competition in Barcelona.

In early 2020, Susanne performed the role of Violetta Valéry in La Traviata, starring in 8 performances as part of the Winter USA Tour with Teatro Lirico d’Europa. Susanne was scheduled to make her role debut as Gilda in a new production of Rigoletto at Opera North and Woglinde in Das Rheingold at The Atlanta Opera before the COVID19 pandemic sadly postponed these performances. Among efforts to preserve art and opera during the pandemic, she took part in the Summer Season at Opera Theater St. Louis presenting arias and ensembles in a virtual festival which culminated in a masterclass series with internationally renowned sopranos, Patricia Racette and Nova Thomas.

In 2019 Susanne made her debut with New York City Opera as Hannah in the World Premiere of Dear Erich by Ted Rosenthal. She returned to the company in the role of Musetta in Puccini’s La Bohème. Later that year, she joined Teatro Grattacielo in NYC as Mimí in Leoncavallo’s La Bohème and La Principessa in Respighi’s La bella dormente nel bosco.

No stranger to Concert and Oratoria work, Susanne made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2017 with the New England Symphony singing the Pie Jesu from Fauré Requiem and Soprano solos in John Trotta’s The Seven Last Words of Christ. She returned to Carnegie Hall the following year to perform the Soprano solos in Jubilate Deo and Requiem for the Living by Dan Forrest. Susanne performed in 2025 with the Jacksonville Symphony as the Soprano Soloist in Poulenc's Gloria.