Spotlight Feature - Susan Yankee

We are only 4 days away from Speaking Her Truth: an evening of music by Jessica Rudman including the world premiere of her chamber opera: Marie Curie Learns to Swim. Saturday is not far away and we hope to see you at Christ Church Cathedral's Parish House at 7:30pm in downtown Hartford. Have you already reserved your tickets? If you still need to purchase tickets, please visit our website ! Today we are pleased to run our last spotlight for mezzo-soprano, Susan Yankee! Susan will be singing the title role in Marie Curie Learns to Swim. Susan first performed scenes from Marie Curie Learns to Swim at our 8th annual New in November Festival in 2017. We are thrilled to have Susan back to perform this work in its entirety on Saturday. We hope you enjoy learning about Susan and what Opera for the Twenty-Second Century means to her.

Susan Yankee has performed Soprano and Mezzo-soprano repertoire across the country, including two solo appearances at Carnegie Hall. First, a Carnegie Hall debut as soloist in the Beethoven Mass in C and Mozart Requiem under the baton of Jerald Ottley, conductor of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. This was followed by the World Premiere of Imant Raminish’s Symphony of Psalms.

Appearances with the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, New York City Opera National Company. Tulsa Opera, Opera Memphis, Longview Opera, Shreveport Opera, Harrisburg Opera, Opera Theater of CT, and Sarasota Opera. As a concert artist with The Little Orchestra Society of New York, Memphis Symphony, Norwalk Symphony Orchestra, New Haven Symphony, Connecticut Chamber Choir, Wallingford Symphony, Orchestra New England, Bethlehem Bach Festival, Lake Charles Symphony, Shreveport Symphony, Annapolis Opera, and the Mozart in Mass Series at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, NYC.

As a young artist, with the Glimmerglass Opera, Virginia Opera, Israel Vocal Arts Institute, the Sarasota Opera Studio, and two seasons with the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. World Finalist in the Luciano Pavarotti International Voice Competition, a Mid-Atlantic All District Division winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, as well as a winner of the Palm Beach Opera Competition, the Connecticut Opera Competition, Amici Vocal Competition and the Liederkranz Foundation Awards for Voice.

She has been on the voice faculty of Centenary College, University of Tampa, East Texas Baptist University, Florida Gulf Coast University and Patel Conservatory.

She has been on the voice faculty for several prestigious voice programs, including the Sherrill Milnes V.O.I.C.Experience at Walt Disney World and Opera Tampa, Intermezzo Foundation for Voice and Seagle Music Colony. She is past artistic director of the Shreveport Opera Xpress Young Artist program. In addition, Ms. Yankee is a three times National Endowment of the Arts grant recipient for her interactive educational operas for children based on popular fairytales to the music of classical opera composers. Ms. Yankee is a graduate of the Hartt School of Music and the Yale School of Music. She is an Associate Fellow of Trumbull College, Yale University.

Here is what Susan had to say about Opera for the Twenty-Second Century:

“There is no such thing as a new idea. It is impossible. We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope. We give them a turn and they make new and curious combinations. We keep on turning and making new combinations indefinitely; but they are the same old pieces of colored glass that have been in use through all the ages.”

― Mark Twain

Speaking her Truth and other 21st century compositions can see their reflection in this Mark Twain quote. Each new work is that colored glass...music arranging itself in new patterns, sometimes familiar to the ear and other times making the listener perk up and experience an unfamiliar color combination.

We hope you enjoyed learning about our artists for Speaking Her Truth. If you are waiting to purchase your tickets for Saturday, there is still time! You can purchase in advance through our website or at the door by cash, check, debit/credit card, or Venmo. If you are unable to attend but want to support our cause, you can donate the price of a ticket to our fundraising campaign. See you on Saturday night! =)