Susan Platts

Mezzo-soprano Susan Platts is a noted specialist in the vocal music of Mahler as well as singing opera from Purcell to John Adams. Platts benefited from the mentorship of two operatic powerhouses, soprano Jessye Norman and contralto Maureen Forrester. Platts was born in Britain in 1973 but grew up in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Her parents enjoyed folk music, but other than that, she had no musical background. When she started taking voice lessons at the late age of 16, she did not know how to read music. Platts' mother sent a homemade tape to Howard Dyck, conductor of the Kitchener-Waterloo Philharmonic Choir and host of the CBC radio network's Saturday Afternoon at the Opera program. Stunned by what he heard, Dyck immediately engaged Platts to sing the soprano solo part in Bruckner's Mass No. 1 in D minor with the choir, in Canada and on tour. After that, Platts took lessons in Victoria from Alexandra Browning, and in summers in Canada and the U.S. from soprano Christa Ludwig. A recommendation from Dyck led to engagements for Platts with choirs led by Bach specialist Helmuth Rilling. A major breakthrough came when Norman selected Platts as a protégée as part of the 2004 Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative; not only did Platts study with Norman, but she also earned the opportunity to commission a new work, the song cycle Under the Watchful Sky, from composer Marjan Mozetich. Platts also worked with Forrester and was even hailed in the Canadian press as the next Maureen Forrester, reflecting the older singer's influence. Platts has gone on to a prestigious career as a concert singer, specializing in the symphonies and songs of Mahler, which she has performed with such ensembles as the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Orchestre de Paris, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra. Her repertory of operatic roles is large and includes the part of Third Secretary to Chairman Mao in Adams' Nixon in China, a concert version of which she has performed at the BBC Proms and the Berlin Festival. Platts has performed at La Scala in Italy, and she has appeared on many distinguished art song series, including the Vocal Arts Society at Kennedy Center and the Frick Museum Series in New York, and the Ladies Morning Musical Club in Montreal. Platts has appeared on several recordings, including a Dorian-label album featuring Mahler's Symphony No. 4 in G major in 2003, and the collection Frauenliebe und Leben, containing songs by Brahms and Clara Schumann as well as Robert Schumann, in 2008. In 2020, Platts appeared on a Naxos-label album featuring Florent Schmitt's ballet La Tragédie de Salomé.
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