Welcome | Susanne-Burgess

Susanne Burgess

Soprano

Press

"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

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“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

"...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 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. As Mabel, her comedic timing was spot on. Her voice is a force and her range is as wide as whatever ocean the warm-hearted pirates sail across."

- ArtsATL

"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

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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

"...moving...a talent that promises to be incredibly important... With such beauty and poise seldom seen on the best of stages... Susanne Burgess is clearly a precious gift for every audience and we look forward to seeing more of her."

- Voce di Meche

Bio

Biography

Susanne Burgess is a British-American soprano praised for a uniquely present and warm vocal color, penchant for legato line, dramatic fioratura, and engaging emotional expression on stage.

Susanne returns the Metropolitan Opera as Frasquita in a brand new production of Bizet's Carmen before travelling to the Atlanta Opera to reprise her critically-acclaimed role as Helena in A Midsummer Night's Dream. She will also perform earlier this year at the Oscar Larson Performing Arts Center as Musetta in La boheme. In the summer of 2023 Susanne debuted the role of Magda in La rondine to critical acclaim at Southern Illinois Music Festival. Susanne recently made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Countess Ceprano in the Bartlett Sher's illustrious staging of Verdi’s Rigoletto, also joining the company in Cherubini’s Medea, after spending the summer of 2022 at Des Moines Metro Opera to debut the role of Helena in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In the Spring of 2023 Susanne traveled to Liceu Opera Barcelona to perform in the final round of the illustrious Tenor Viñas Competition after stunning performances as the leading role of Mabel in Gilbert & Sullivan's classic Pirates of Penzance. Shortly thereafter, Susanne made a role debut as Gilda in Rigoletto with Boheme Opera NJ.

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.

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.

Earlier that year, Susanne made her international debut as Anna in Le Villi and Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi with the Festival of the Aegean at the Megaron Mousikis in Athens and Syros Greece after joining Des Moines Metro Opera as Berta in The Barber of Seville and covering Tina in their production of Flight by Johnathan Dove.