Canadian mezzo-soprano Susan Platts brings a distinctly rich voice and interpretive insight to nearly all alto/mezzo-soprano concert and recital literature, earning particular acclaim for her Mahler, Elgar, Bach and Berlioz interpretations. Following a summer that included her Boston Symphony debut at Tanglewood under the direction of Marek Janowski, her 2005-2006 season included concerts with Jane Glover and the Toronto Symphony (Messiah), Gerard Schwarz and the Seattle Symphony (Beethoven #9), Matthias Bamert and the Malaysian Philharmonic (Das Lied von der Erde), Bramwell Tovey and the Vancouver Symphony (Dido and Aeneas), and Yoav Talmi and the Montreal Symphony (Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen).
In 2006-2007 she debuted with the Colorado Symphony (Beethoven’s Missa solemnis under Jeffrey Kahane), Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra (Beethoven #9 under Roberto Abbado), North Carolina Symphony (Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius under Grant Llewellyn, Pacific Symphony (Mahler #2 under Carl St. Clair), Memphis Symphony (Mendelssohn’s Elijah under David Loebel) and the Mozart Requiem and Berlioz’ Les nuits d’ete for James Setapen’s farewell concerts with the Amarillo Symphony. She also returns to the Toronto Symphony for Beethoven #9 and Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen under Peter Oundjian.
Career highlights include debuts at Milan’s La Scala under the direction of Gary Bertini (with whom she has recorded Das Lied von der Erde with the Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra), New York’s Carnegie Hall (Mahler #2 with the Boston Philharmonic), and return engagements with the Cleveland Orchestra and Vancouver Symphony (Mendelssohn’s Elijah and Mahler’s Third Symphony, respectively). At Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall she has sung both Brahms’s Alto Rhapsody and Elgar’s Sea Pictures with Leon Botstein conducting the American Symphony Orchestra. Platts has also been guest soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra/Martin Haselböck, CBC Radio Orchestra/Mario Bernardi, Orchestre de Paris/Christoph Eschenbach, National Arts Centre Orchestra/Pinchas Zukerman, Louisville Orchestra and Chautauqua Festival/Uriel Segal, Toronto Symphony/Sir Andrew Davis, Les Violons du Roy/Bernard Labadie, Montreal Symphony/Jo Ann Falletta, the Oregon Bach Festival/Helmuth Rilling, and the Detroit Symphony/Itzhak Perlman.
Of particular distinction was Platts’s euphorically-received televised performance of Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder and Schoenberg’s Song of the Wood Dove from Gurrelieder with the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra. Passionately devoted to the art of the song, she is regularly featured on the most prestigious vocal series in New York, Washington, Cleveland, San Francisco and Louisville. Recordings include dramatic sacred art songs with pianist Dalton Baldwin and the chamber version of Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen with the Smithsonian Chamber Players and Santa Fe Pro Musica.
She has studied with Christa Ludwig, Catherine Robbin and Alexandra Browning and coaches in Toronto with Don Tarnawski. In May of 2004, as part of the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative, world-renowned soprano Jessye Norman chose Platts to be her protégée, selecting her from 26 candidates worldwide.
