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Susan GrahamAmerican singer, mezzo-soprano
Date of Birth: 23.07.1960
Country:  USA |
Content:
Biography of Susan Graham
Early Life and EducationSusan Graham was born on July 23, 1960, in Roswell, New Mexico, and grew up in Midland, Texas. She studied at Texas Tech University and the Manhattan School of Music, where she received an honorary doctorate in 2008. Graham spent 13 years learning to play the piano.
Early Career
Graham won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and the Schwabacher Award during her internship at the San Francisco Opera's Merola Opera Program. She also received a grant from the Richard Tucker Music Foundation. In 1994, she made her international debut at Covent Garden in Jules Massenet's "Chérubin." Graham was the first performer of several roles in contemporary operas, including Jordan Baker in John Harbison's "The Great Gatsby," Sister Helen Prejean in Jake Heggie's "Dead Man Walking," and Sandra Finchley in Tobias Picker's "An American Tragedy."
Accomplishments
Graham is known for her expertise in French music and was awarded the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government in 2001. In 2004, she won a Grammy Award for Best Classical Album. She has also gained recognition for her interpretations of songs by French and contemporary American composers such as Ned Rorem and Lowell Liebermann. Graham has performed solo concerts and has been a delegate to UNESCO.
Recent Performances
In recent seasons, Graham has performed in leading roles at major opera houses around the world. She has appeared at Teatro Real in Madrid and the Metropolitan Opera alongside Plácido Domingo in the title role of Gluck's "Iphigénie en Tauride." She has also sung the role of Ariadne in Richard Strauss's "Ariadne auf Naxos" at the Houston Grand Opera and portrayed Marguerite in Berlioz's "La Damnation de Faust" with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Graham has received critical acclaim for her performances of Gustav Mahler's "Rückert-Lieder" with the San Francisco Symphony.
Current Projects
Graham recently returned to the Metropolitan Opera to perform another one of her signature roles, Octavian in Richard Strauss's "Der Rosenkavalier." She also sang the role of Dido in Henry Purcell's "Dido and Aeneas" and the lead role in Handel's "Xerxes" at the Houston Grand Opera. Graham has performed leading roles in classical and contemporary works at major opera houses in the United States and abroad, including La Scala in Milan, the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, the Vienna State Opera, the Opéra National de Paris, the Semperoper in Dresden, and the Salzburg Festival.
