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Susan Graham

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Susan Graham
Graham in 2008
Born (1960-07-23) July 23, 1960 (age 66)
Roswell, New Mexico, US
EducationTexas Tech University, Manhattan School of Music
OccupationOpera singer

Susan Graham (born July 23, 1960) is an American mezzo-soprano.

Early life and education

[edit]

The daughter of Floyd and Betty Graham,[1] Susan Graham was born in Roswell, New Mexico on July 23, 1960.[2] Her father worked as a geophysicist.[3] She grew up in Roswell and in various locations in West Texas before her family finally settled in Midland, Texas.[3][4] She was a member of Midland First United Methodist Church which she attended with fellow congregants George W. Bush and Laura Bush.[3][5] She graduated from Midland Lee High School (MLHS).[6] In her senior year she portrayed Maria Von Trapp in MLHS's production of The Sound of Music.[7] She studied the piano for 13 years.[8]

Graham attended Texas Tech University (TTU) where she graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree in 1983.[9][10] Her voice teacher at the university was Mary Gillas.[11] She continued graduate studies in vocal performance at TTU.[6] She was a performer in multiple choirs at the university, and appeared in multiple student opera productions directed by John Gillas.[11] She portrayed Hansel in TTU's 1984 production of Engelbert Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel.[6] She graduated with a master's degree from TTU in 1985,[12] and then immediately pursued further voice studies at the Manhattan School of Music (MSM) in New York with Marlena Malas.[11][3]

In 1986 Graham performed in MSM's production of Hans Werner Henze's The English Cat which was directed by Lou Galterio.[13] The following year she portrayed the title role in MSM's production of Jules Massenet's Chérubin in that opera's first performance in the United States.[14] In her second year at MSM, she successfully auditioned for the Merola Opera Program; a summer training program for young opera singers operated by the San Francisco Opera.[11] The 1987 summer Merola program ended with a capstone vocal competition in which Graham won the top honor, the Schwabacher Memorial Award, which included a cash prize of four thousand dollars.[15] In 1988 she was one of the winners of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.[16]

Career

[edit]

Graham made her professional opera debut in Oregon in December 1985 as Hansel in Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel with Eugene Opera at the Hult Center for the Performing Arts.[17] In the summer of 1988 she portrayed Erika in Samuel Barber's Vanessa at the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis (OTSL).[18] The following October she appeared as Stéphano in Gounod's Roméo et Juliette at the Seattle Opera.[19] In December 1988 she made her professional concert debut at Alice Tully Hall with the New York Chamber Ensemble singing Gustav Mahler's Des Knaben Wunderhorn.[20]

In 1989 Graham returned to Missouri as Charlotte in OTSL's production of Massenet's Werther,[21] and was a soloist in Mozart's Requiem with the Bach Society of St. Louis.[22] That same year she portrayed both Flora in La traviata and Annina Der Rosenkavalier at the Santa Fe Opera,[23][24] and gave her first performance with the Lyric Opera of Chicago as Annio in La clemenza di Tito.[25]

In 1991 Graham made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera ("the Met") as the Second Lady in The Magic Flute.[26]

Graham made her international début at Covent Garden in 1994, playing Massenet's Chérubin.[27] She has also premièred several roles in contemporary operas, including John Harbison's The Great Gatsby (Jordan Baker), Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking (Sister Helen Prejean), and Tobias Picker's An American Tragedy (Sondra Finchley).[28]

In 1997 she gave her New York recital debut at Alice Tully Hall.[29]

Graham is a noted champion of the French song repertoire[30] and of songs by contemporary American composers, including Ned Rorem and Lowell Liebermann.[31] She made her Carnegie Hall recital debut in April 2003,[32] and a recording of this recital was later released.

Graham sang "Bless This House" at George W. Bush's second inauguration on January 20, 2005,[27] and Schubert's "Ave Maria" at the nationally televised funeral mass for Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts on August 29, 2009. She is a US delegate for UNESCO.[33][34]

In 2025 she portrayed the Marquise of Berkenfield in La Fille du Régiment at the Met.[35]

Opera roles

[edit]
Graham at the Metropolitan Opera opening in 2008

Her operatic roles include:

Awards

[edit]
  • 2001 Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters (Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres)[54]
  • June 2005 Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters
  • Musical America 2004 Vocalist of the Year
  • 2004 Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Performance, for her album Ives: Songs (The Things Our Fathers Loved; The Housatonic At Stockbridge, Etc.)
  • 2005 Opera News Award
  • September 5, 2006 Midland, Texas first annual "Susan Graham Day"[55]
  • May 2008, Honorary Doctorate, Manhattan School of Music

Some of the recordings have also received awards. See below.

Recordings

[edit]
1992
1995
1996
1997
1998
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2008
2010

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ "Georgia Todd Temple". The Midland Reporter-Telegram. December 18, 1988. p. 2G.
  2. ↑ Blyth, Alan; Westover, Jonas (July 25, 2013). "Graham, Susan". Grove Music Online. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.A2241293.
  3. 1 2 3 4 von Rhein, John (February 19, 2006). "On America's Most-Wanted List. Mezzo-soprano Susan Graham is Mesmerizing". Chicago Tribune. p. 7-4.
  4. ↑ Fields, Jamie (December 1996). "Susan Graham". Texas Monthly.
  5. ↑ "Graham to Sing Solos". The Midland Reporter-Telegram. December 19, 1987. p. 27.
  6. 1 2 3 "Making the Grade". The Midland Reporter-Telegram. November 4, 1984. p. 9B.
  7. ↑ "Musical Program Featured". The Midland Reporter-Telegram. September 9, 1984. p. 6E.
  8. ↑ Kettle, Martin (December 10, 2004). "America's most wanted". The Guardian. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
  9. ↑ "Recital Given". The Midland Reporter-Telegram. April 17, 1983. p. 7E.
  10. ↑ "Texas Tech University Releases List of This Spring's Graduates". The Midland Reporter-Telegram. July 28, 1983. p. 3C.
  11. 1 2 3 4 "Entertainment in Brief". The Midland Reporter-Telegram. December 28, 1986. p. 6G.
  12. ↑ "Making the Grade". The Midland Reporter-Telegram. June 16, 1985. p. 19.
  13. ↑ "The Mouse Gets All the Lines". Newsday. March 21, 1986. p. 23, section Weekend.
  14. ↑ Wynne, Peter (March 27, 1987). "At Manhattan School of Music. Cherubin Premiere is First-Rate". The Record. p. 7, section On Stage.
  15. ↑ "Women Take All Top Honors at Merola Opera Competition". The Peninsula Times Tribune. August 17, 1987. p. 18.
  16. ↑ Zakariasen, Bill (April 13, 1988). "Winner's Circle". New York Daily News. p. 37.
  17. ↑ "Hansel and Gretel and a Warty Witch Scare Up... Some Musical Gingerbread For the Holidays". The Register-Guard. December 26, 1985. pp. 1D, 3D.
  18. ↑ Wierzbicki, James (July 31, 1988). "The Vanessa Controversy: Critical Notes From All Over". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. p. 1, section Music/ The Arts.
  19. ↑ Smith, Eugene (October 31, 1988). "Cast, Lighting Shine in Seattle Opera Romeo and Juliet". The Daily Herald. p. 21.
  20. ↑ "Opera Star to Sing at Service". The Midland Reporter-Telegram. December 24, 1988. p. 2.
  21. ↑ "Opera Theatre Falters In Staging of Werther". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. June 3, 1989. p. 5D.
  22. ↑ "The Bach Society of St. Louis". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. May 7, 1989. p. 69.
  23. ↑ "With One Exception Perfection Swaddles, La traviata Opener". The Santa Fe New Mexican. July 2, 1989. p. 15.
  24. ↑ Belcher, David (May 20, 2025). "An 'Opera Camp' Flourishes in the New Mexico Desert". The New York Times.
  25. ↑ "Lyric Bring Music to Life in Mozart's Final Opera". Chicago Tribune. October 16, 1989. p. 12.
  26. ↑ Holland, Bernard (September 28, 1991). "Review/Opera; In the Met's 'Zauberflote,' Wonder Joins Whimsy". p. 11.
  27. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Hugh Canning, "Everything but the girl"". The Times. March 11, 2007. Retrieved July 23, 2025.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  28. ↑ "Anthony Tommasini, "Dreiser's Chilling Tale of Ambition and Its Price"". The New York Times. December 5, 2005. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
  29. ↑ Kozinn, Allan (February 4, 1997). "To Forget No Cranny, Filigree or Flourish". The New York Times.
  30. ↑ "Allan Kozinn, "Taking a Two-Century Voyage Through the Music of France"". The New York Times. January 31, 2007. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
  31. ↑ "Anthony Tommasini, "A Singer at Ease in Opera and in Song Repertory"". The New York Times. April 19, 2000. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
  32. ↑ "Allan Kozinn, "A Brisk Tour, Concluding With a Boa"". The New York Times. April 18, 2003. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
  33. ↑ "Susan Graham". U. S. Department of State – Commission for UNESCO.
  34. ↑ "Mrs. Bush's Remarks to UNESCO Plenary Session in Paris". Whitehouse.archives.gov. September 29, 2003. Retrieved February 2, 2019.
  35. ↑ Fonseca-Wollheim, Corinna da (October 26, 2025). "Review: The Met Opera Has Another Bel Canto Hit With 'La Fille'". The New York Times.
  36. ↑ The Observer (Anthony Holden) Vanessa, you've been a very lucky girl November 23, 2003
  37. ↑ The Guardian (Tim Ashley) Vanessa November 18, 2003
  38. ↑ Philip Anson Béatrice et Bénédict: Bis! July 1, 1997
  39. ↑ Great Performances at the Met – “Les Troyens” June 30, 2013
  40. ↑ The Guardian (Edward Greenfield) A new leash of life August 19, 2000
  41. ↑ Renée Fleming Fifty ways to sing about love
  42. ↑ The Guardian (Martin Kettle) Great Scott! Jay and Daisy bring the jazz age to the Met
  43. ↑ Winn, Steven (December 7, 2020). "Opera San Jose Pulls Off a Holiday Miracle with Three Decembers". San Francisco Classical Voice. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
  44. ↑ "Anne Midgette, "How to Take a Widow Three Stages Past Merry"". The New York Times. December 24, 2003. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
  45. ↑ "Anthony Tommasini, "The Merry Widow Meets The Embarrassed Fiancée"". The New York Times. January 2, 2004. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
  46. ↑ The Guardian (Alfred Hickling) Louche cannon October 10, 2003
  47. ↑ "Bernard Holland, "What Use an Update if Hearts Beat Still the Same?"". The New York Times. October 26, 2004. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
  48. ↑ The Guardian (George Hall) La Clemenza di Tito May 4, 2005
  49. ↑ "Bernard Holland, "Haunted by the Deaths of Martyrs, a Century Apart"". The New York Times. August 1, 2005. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
  50. ↑ "Anthony Tommasini, "A Lithuanian Soprano Creates Her Own Ariadne"". The New York Times. September 27, 2005. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
  51. ↑ The Guardian (Tim Ashley) Ariadne auf Naxos June 24, 2004
  52. ↑ The Observer (Anthony Holden) Even the corpse is fantastic
  53. ↑ "Jeremy Eichler, "Lushly Lamenting the Wages of Time and a Lost Golden Age"". The New York Times. March 15, 2005. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
  54. ↑ "Ned Rorem and Susan Graham Decoration". Frenchculture.org. Archived from the original on October 21, 2006. Retrieved July 23, 2025.
  55. ↑
  56. ↑ The Guardian (Edward Greenfield) Other classical releases February 4, 2000
  57. ↑ The Guardian (Andrew Clements) Other classical releases March 31, 2000
  58. ↑ Eric Dahan: Les méli-mélodies de Susan Graham. Libération, May 3, 2000 (interview).
  59. ↑ The Guardian (Andrew Clements) Pretty vacant February 18, 2000
  60. ↑ The Guardian (Edward Greenfield) Classical CD releases November 3, 2000
  61. ↑ The Guardian (Tim Ashley) Classical CD releases April 6, 2001
  62. ↑ The Guardian (Andrew Clements) Classical CD releases April 5, 2002
  63. ↑ BBC Classical Review (Andrew McGregor) Susan Graham at Carnegie Hall (includes audio samples)
  64. ↑ New York (Peter G. Davis) Cosi Fan Tutte, Beatrice et Benedict, Susan Graham Archived November 4, 2005, at the Wayback Machine
  65. ↑ Dart, William (November 26, 2003). "On track: Album captures special occasion for Susan Graham". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved November 15, 2011.
  66. ↑ BBC Classical Review (Andrew McGregor) Ives: Concord Sonata, Songs, Pierre-Laurent Aimard/Susan Graham
  67. ↑ The New York Times (Jeremy Eichler) The Best Classical CD's of 2004; IVES: SONGS, 'CONCORD' SONATA
  68. ↑ The Observer (Anthony Holden) Ives, Piano Sonata No 2 'Concord' May 16, 2004
  69. ↑ The Guardian (Andrew Clements) Ives: Piano Sonata No 2, Concorde; Songs: Graham/ Aimard May 7, 2004
  70. ↑ The Guardian (Edward Greenfield) Barber: Vanessa, Brewer/ Graham/ Wyn-Rogers/ Burden/ Davies/ BBC Singers and SO/ Slatkin
  71. ↑ BBC Classical Review (Andrew McGregor) Purcell: Dido and Aeneas, Susan Graham, Ian Bostridge etc (includes samples)
  72. ↑ The New York Times (Allan Kozinn) The Best Classical CD's of 2004; PURCELL: 'DIDO AND AENEAS'
  73. ↑ The Guardian (Andrew Clements) Chausson Poème de l'Amour et de la Mer; Ravel: Shéhérazade; Debussy (arr. Adams): Le Livre de Baudelaire: Graham/ BBC SO/ Tortelier May 20, 2005
  74. ↑ The Observer (Anthony Holden) Debussy/Chausson/Ravel, Songs May 15, 2005
  75. ↑ The Observer (Anthony Holden) Classical CDs: Mozart | Sacred Songs | Matthew Taylor October 23, 2005
  76. ↑ Rick Jones Simon Rattle: Berlioz – Symphonie Fantastique The Times August 30, 2008
  77. ↑ Anthony Holden Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique Berlin Philharmonic/Rattle (EMI 216 2240) # The Observer August 31, 2008
[edit]
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