Hailed by international critics for her beautiful, powerful voice and riveting stage presence, American soprano Susan Marie Pierson is a true leading lady in every sense of the word. Widely known for her magnificently convincing roles in Wagner and Strauss operas, she also has an impressive performance list of 38 leading roles in 58 opera productions since the beginning of her career.

Miss Pierson’s performance credits include more than 20 different Wagner productions and seven separate Ring Cycles. She has been engaged by over 35 opera companies, including the Baltimore Opera, Canadian Opera Company, Lyric Opera of Chicago, La Scala, Netherlands Opera, Metropolitan Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Opéra de Nantes, Pittsburgh Opera, San Francisco Opera, Seattle Opera, Théatre du Chatalet and Teatro Communale di Bologna, and has sung among others, the leading soprano roles in: Der fliegende Holländer, the Ring Cycle, Salome, Elektra, Tosca, Otello, Stiffelio, Un Ballo in Maschera, Jenufa (Kostelnicka), The Makropulos Case, Kat’ya Kabanova, Ariadne auf Naxos, Der Freischütz and Fidelio.

This current 09-10 season included covering Elektra and singing the Aufseherin for Theatre Capitole in Toulouse, and singing four supporting roles (Old Woman, Graumann's Wife, Spanish Madam and Waitress) in Schreker's Der ferne Klang for the Bard Summerscape Opera at Bard College, soon to be released on CD.

Recent past seasons include The Woman in Erwartung for Seattle Opera, Senta in Der fliegende Holländer for Edmonton Opera, and Brünnhilde in Götterdämmerung for Chemnitz as well as Elektra in Buenos Aires, covering Abagaille in Nabucco for Munich State Opera and Brünnhilde in Die Walküre for the Metropolitan Opera. She also sang Janacek's Glagolitic Mass with the Edmonton Symphony and Mother Abbess in 24 performances of The Sound of Music for the Ordway Center in St. Paul.

Highlights of previous seasons include her debut as Christine in Mourning becomes Electra for Seattle Opera and her debut as Isolde in Tristan und Isolde with the complete opera performed in concert and recorded by Titanic Records.

Career highlights include the role of Amelia in a National PBS Telecast of Un Ballo in Maschera with Luciano Pavarotti and being the only opera singer to date nominated for the prestigious Dora Mava Moore Award (Canadian Tony Award) for her portrayal of Elektra. Miss Pierson has performed with the Innsbruck Symphony, Orchestre National de Paris, Phoenix Symphony, North Carolina Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic, Springfield Symphony and Canton Symphony, and sung solo roles under direction of Zubin Mehta, Donald Runicles, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Jeffrey Tate, Leif Segerstam and others. She has recorded the role of Ortlinde in Die Walküre on a Decca CD with Christoph von Dohnanyi and the Cleveland Orchestra, and also sung on national radio broadcasts with the CBC in Toronto, WGN in Chicago, Radio France, and numerous local broadcasts.

Miss Pierson is a native of Oregon, received degrees from the Eastman School of Music and Boston University School for the Arts, and lives in New York.

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