Susan D.

Voice

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An accomplished and versatile singer and actor noted for her “soaring soprano voice”and “striking theatricality” (The New York Times), Susan made her Broadway debut in the Tony-winning revival of Wonderful Town and performed the role of Christine in The Phantom of the Opera in Hamburg, Germany with the Neue Flora Theater. She garnered critical acclaim for her recent portrayal of Francesca Johnson in The Bridges of Madison County at Keegan Theatre in Washington DC, which Broadway World called the role of her career. This season, Susan performs Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady with the Utah Symphony Orchestra opposite Peter Scolari as Professor Henry Higgins.

 

In a concert setting, Susan headlined as a guest soloist at Carnegie Hall with the New York Pops. She has appeared in the Encores! Series at New York City Center eleven times and has additional performed with the New York Philharmonic, the Lawton Symphony, the Palm Beach Orchestra, in Kennedy Center galas, Sondheim Award galas, and with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in Leonard Bernstein's Mass conducted by Marin Alsop. A champion of new works, Susan is the centerpiece of the Bold New Works series in Virginia, an initiative to create five world-premiere musicals; her performance in the first piece, a new version of The Turn of the Screw, was nominated for a Helen Hayes Award. Other theatrical career highlights include Marian in The Music Man; Kate/Lilli in Kiss Me Kate; Desdemona in Othello; Fiona in Brigadoon; Meg in Crimes of the Heart; Helen in Saturday Night; Agnes in I Do! I Do!; Betty Schaeffer in Sunset Boulevard; Betty in White Christmas, and Gwendolen in The Importance of Being Earnest.

 

As a voice teacher, Susan’s goal is to discover a free, balanced sound in her students by building a functional, accessible technique and to impart tools to express themselves truthfully and meaningfully. She emphasizes joy and compassion in her approach and works with the individual needs of each student in order to help bring their best sound forward. Susan is equally at home in the world of opera and musical theater as she is in the world of pop and contemporary music. Susan holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Northwestern University and a Master of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music. She has served as an adjunct professor of voice at both American University and George Washington University.