Suzanna Guzmán
Encyclopedia
Suzanna Guzmándirected by the late John Schlessinger,the Governess in Pique Dame with Plácido Domingo, Elena Obratsova, Valery Gerghiev, Suzuki in Madama Butterfly with Catherine Malfitano, AND Yoko Watanabe in the title role, Diana in Orpheus in the Underworld with Peter Mark Shifter, Dom Deluise, Tracy Dahl, John de Main conducting, Flora in La Traviata with Renne Flemming, Elizabethe Futral, and Ana Maria Martinez, directed by Marta Domingo, Gertrude in Romeo et Juliette with Rolando Villazon and Anna Nebrenko, La Ciesca in Gianni Schicchi directed by William Freiedkin, starring Sam Ramey, Ros Elias, Jessica Rivera, Rolando Villazon, Faust with Veronica Villaroel and Sam Ramey, Frau Mary in Flying Dutchman with Greg Fedderly and directed by Julie Taymor, Der Rosenkavalier with Ashley Putnam, Federica von Stade, directed by Jonathan Miller, to name a few.
Ms. Guzmán has had the privilege of working with John Schlesinger
, William Friedkin, Francesca Zambello
, Franco Zeffirelli
, Sir Peter Hall, and Robert Wilson
;as well as with many familiar contemporary composers: Jake Heggie Dead Man Walking; Tobias Picker
(Fantastic Mr. Fox), Daniel Catán
(Florencia en el Amazonas), Cliff Eidelmann (Wedding in the Night Garden), Ian Krouse (Lorca, Child of the Moon), Richard Rodgers Melnick (Chinese Cabaret), and Lee Holdridge
(Journey to Córdoba and Concierto para Mendez) have all called upon her to originate roles in their operas. She performs with orchestras and symphonies across the United States, is on the roster of the [Los Angeles Music Center Education Division] and continues performing for the Los Angeles Opera Education Department. She sang as a principal soloist with Tambuco Percussion Ensemble of Mexico and the Southwest Chamber Music
's CD Carlos Chavez Volume 3, which was nominated for a 2006 Best Classical CD, Best Small Ensemble and for Best Classical Latin Grammy
. 2011 marks the 10th anniversary performance as the Virgen de Guadalupe in the Latino Theatre Centers annual pagaent La Virgen de Tepeyac;Dios Inantzin with Sal Lopez as Juan Diego, Geoff Rivas, Chris Franco, as Friales, Dyana Ortella as La Criada and Castulo Guerra as the Bishop.
In addition to on stage performance Ms. Guzmán is a well known radio host appearing for almost nine seasons on the weekly broadcast L.A. Opera Notes co-hosting first with radio legend Rich Caperela and later with Los Angeles favorite, baritone Rod Gilfry
. Later she appeared for three seasons as producer, writer and host of Sunday Evening Opera. She is an advocate of arts in education, serving on the USC Thornton School of Music Board of Advisors, Board of UCLA's
Design for Sharing, the Education Committee of Los Angeles Opera, and the Pasadena Arts Council. Her award-winning one-woman show, Don't Be Afraid: It's Just Opera, has been performed for more than 200,000 students nationwide. July 2011 marks the second year anniversary of her employment with the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts (LACHSA) as Director of Community Engagement.
Ms. Guzmán has had the privilege of working with John Schlesinger
John Schlesinger
John Richard Schlesinger, CBE was an English film and stage director and actor.-Early life:Schlesinger was born in London into a middle-class Jewish family, the son of Winifred Henrietta and Bernard Edward Schlesinger, a physician...
, William Friedkin, Francesca Zambello
Francesca Zambello
Francesca Zambello is a leading American opera and theatre director. Zambello lived in Europe when she was a child, learning to speak French, Italian, German and Russian. Zambello is of Italian descent, the daughter of Jean , an actress and Charles C. Zambello, a former actor who became head of...
, Franco Zeffirelli
Franco Zeffirelli
Franco Zeffirelli KBE is an Italian director and producer of films and television. He is also a director and designer of operas and a former senator for the Italian center-right Forza Italia party....
, Sir Peter Hall, and Robert Wilson
Robert Wilson (director)
Robert Wilson is an American avant-garde stage director and playwright who has been called "[America]'s — or even the world's — foremost vanguard 'theater artist'". Over the course of his wide-ranging career, he has also worked as a choreographer, performer, painter, sculptor, video...
;as well as with many familiar contemporary composers: Jake Heggie Dead Man Walking; Tobias Picker
Tobias Picker
Tobias Picker is an American composer. Picker began composing at the age of eight and studied at the Manhattan School of Music, The Juilliard School and Princeton University, where his principal teachers were Charles Wuorinen, Elliott Carter and Milton Babbitt...
(Fantastic Mr. Fox), Daniel Catán
Daniel Catán
Daniel Catán was a Mexican composer of Russian Sephardic Jewish descent known particularly for his operas and his creative friendship with the tenor Plácido Domingo.-Career:...
(Florencia en el Amazonas), Cliff Eidelmann (Wedding in the Night Garden), Ian Krouse (Lorca, Child of the Moon), Richard Rodgers Melnick (Chinese Cabaret), and Lee Holdridge
Lee Holdridge
Lee Holdridge is a Haitian-born American television composer and orchestrator.-Biography:He was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, of a Puerto-Rican mother and an American father, the botanist an climatologist Leslie Holdridge...
(Journey to Córdoba and Concierto para Mendez) have all called upon her to originate roles in their operas. She performs with orchestras and symphonies across the United States, is on the roster of the [Los Angeles Music Center Education Division] and continues performing for the Los Angeles Opera Education Department. She sang as a principal soloist with Tambuco Percussion Ensemble of Mexico and the Southwest Chamber Music
Southwest Chamber Music
Southwest Chamber Music is an ensemble of 15 musicians based in Los Angeles County, California. The organization was founded in 1987 by Artistic Director Jeff von der Schmidt and Executive Director Jan Karlin...
's CD Carlos Chavez Volume 3, which was nominated for a 2006 Best Classical CD, Best Small Ensemble and for Best Classical Latin Grammy
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
. 2011 marks the 10th anniversary performance as the Virgen de Guadalupe in the Latino Theatre Centers annual pagaent La Virgen de Tepeyac;Dios Inantzin with Sal Lopez as Juan Diego, Geoff Rivas, Chris Franco, as Friales, Dyana Ortella as La Criada and Castulo Guerra as the Bishop.
In addition to on stage performance Ms. Guzmán is a well known radio host appearing for almost nine seasons on the weekly broadcast L.A. Opera Notes co-hosting first with radio legend Rich Caperela and later with Los Angeles favorite, baritone Rod Gilfry
Rod Gilfry
Rodney Gilfry is a leading American opera baritone. After launching his career at Frankfurt Opera in 1987, Gilfry quickly established a reputation for stylish singing and acting...
. Later she appeared for three seasons as producer, writer and host of Sunday Evening Opera. She is an advocate of arts in education, serving on the USC Thornton School of Music Board of Advisors, Board of UCLA's
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
Design for Sharing, the Education Committee of Los Angeles Opera, and the Pasadena Arts Council. Her award-winning one-woman show, Don't Be Afraid: It's Just Opera, has been performed for more than 200,000 students nationwide. July 2011 marks the second year anniversary of her employment with the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts (LACHSA) as Director of Community Engagement.
Discography
- Carlos Chavez Volume 3 (soloist)
- Grammy nominated (Best Classical CD, Best Classical Small Ensemble)
- Latin Grammy Nominated
- Southwest Chamber Music
- Tambuco Percussion Ensemble with Alba Quezada
- Cambria (1 CD) CD 8852
- Three Friends: Music of Ian Krouse (soloist)
- The Debussy Trio
- Ian Krouse, composer
- Marcia Dickstein, conductor
- Rubeda Canis Musica (1 CA) B000050AE1
- US Release September 4, 2001
- Florencia en el Amazonas (Paula)
- Daniel Catan, composer
- Patrick Summers, conductor with Ana Maria Martinez, Patricia Schumann, Chad Shelton…
- Houston Grand Opera Orchestra
- Albany Record (2 CD) TROY 531/532
- US Release September 2002
- Goya (Duchess of Alba)
- Giancarlo Menotti, composer
- Steven Mercurio, conductor with Cesar Hernandez, Andrew Wentzel, Penelope Daner
- Spoleto Festival Orchestra
- ICARUS Nuova Era (2 CD) 7060/61
- Italy release April 1992
- US re release Copa d'Oro Records
Filmography/TV
- CSI: New York ("Murder Sings the Blues") (2006) Madame Butterfly
- Directed by Oz Scott
- Twilight of the Golds (1997) Brünnhilde
- Directed by Ross Kagan Marks
- Written by Jonathan Tolins
- Courage: Profiles in Creativity (1998-documentary) Herself
- Directed by Deanna McDaniels
- Suzanna Guzmán - Native Angelena: Voice of an Angel (2002) Herself
- Associate Press Award Best Short Profile
- Producer Gay Yee
- Host Val Zavala for PBS LIFE AND TIMES
- El Gato Montes (1995) Gypsy woman
- Directed by Emilio Sagi
Sources
- Breslauer, Jan, "A Perfect Fit", Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles TimesThe Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
5 February 1995 - Crutchfield, WillWill CrutchfieldWill Crutchfield is a noted American conductor, musicologist, and vocal coach. He is currently the Director of Opera at the Caramoor International Music Festival and a frequent guest conductor at the Polish National Opera...
, "A Mezzo-Soprano in Debut", New York Times, 4 May 1989, p. C28 - McNamara, Mary, Cover Story: Almost A Diva, Los Angeles Times MagazineLos Angeles TimesThe Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, 7 March 1999, p. 12 - Metropolitan OperaMetropolitan OperaThe Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
, http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/gisrch2k.r?Term=Guzman,%20Suzanna%20%5BMezzo%20Soprano%5D&limit=5000&vsrchtype=no&xBranch=ALL&xmtype=&Start=&End=&theterm=G%75zman,%20S%75zanna%20%5BM%65zzo%20Sop%72ano%5D&srt=&x=0&xHome=http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/bibpro.htm&xHomePath=http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/Performance record: Guzman, Suzanna (Mezzo Soprano)] on the MetOpera Database
External links
- Suzanne Calvin interviews Mezzo-soprano Suzanna Guzman (Dallas OperaDallas OperaThe Dallas Opera is an opera company located in Dallas, Texas . The company was founded in 1957 as the Dallas Civic Opera by Laurence Kelly and Nicolà Rescigno, both of whom had been active with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the first as administrator, the second as artistic director.-The company's...
official YouTube Channel)