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The American lyric soprano, Susan Nelson, holds degrees from the University of Illinois and the Eastman School of Music. She tied for third place for the 2014 The American Prize in Vocal Performance Friedrich & Virginia Schorr Memorial Award in the Professional Opera Division, was also a 2014 Finalist for the Chicago Oratorio Award by the same organization, and is a recipient of a Career Encouragement Award from the MacAllister Foundation.
Equally at home on the operatic stage or in concert repertoire, Susan Nelson has been praised by critics for her “full, powerful voice – agile and pliant” as well as her interpretations, called both “sensitive and moving” and “full of life and vigor.” She showcases versatility and vocal beauty in repertoire from J.S. Bach and W.A. Mozart to verismo and contemporary opera, as well as light opera and popular music.
Susan Nelson’s busy opera schedule has included both Pamina in W.A. Mozart's Die Zauberflöte and Nedda in Pagliacci with Opera Delaware, Countess Almaviva in W.A. Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro with Salt Creek Chamber Orchestra, Yum Yum in The Mikado with both The Savoyaires and North Shore Opera Hour, Geraldine in A Hand of Bridge and Laetitia in The Old Maid and the Thief with Governors State University’s Opera Up Close, Bubikopf in Viktor Ullmann’s Der Kaiser von Atlantis with the New Millennium Orchestra, Estelle in No Exit with Chicago Opera Vanguard, the title role of Rusalka with Opera for the Young, the Mistress in Peter and Paul in the Land of Nod with Chicago Folks Operetta, Micaëla in Georges Bizet's Carmen with Bowen Park Opera, Nedda in I Pagliacci with Intimate Opera and Fiordiligi in W.A. Mozart's Così fan tutte with Opera Illinois. She has also covered four small roles at Lyric Opera of Chicago including a Flower Maiden in Parsifal and a Page in Tannhäuser.
Susan Nelson’s concert appearances include performances of Johannes Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem, W.A. Mozart’s Requiem and Vesperae solennes de confessore, Music for Eighteen Musicians with eighth blackbird, Antonio Caldara’s Magnificat, Haydn’s Theresienmesse, J.S. Bach's Magnificat (BWV 243), Rossini’s Stabat Mater, Erik Satie’s Socrate, J.S. Bach’s Magnificat (BWV 243) at First Congregational Church of LaGrange Schubert’s Mirjams Siegegesang, George Frideric Handel's Messiah with both the Waukegan Symphony Orchestra and the Illiana Oratorio Society, Felix Mendelssohn’s Lobgesang with Fort Wayne Philharmonic and holiday concerts with both the South Bend Symphony Orchestra and the Illinois Valley Symphony Orchestra. She has also appeared regularly as the soprano soloist in nineteen J.S. Bach's cantatas (including BWV 199 Mein Herz schwimmt in Blut) at Grace Lutheran Church: Bach Cantata Vespers, where she has also sung both the Messe in H Moll (BWV 232) and the Weihnachts Oratorium (BWV 248), and has been a regular soloist with Music of the Baroque, Chicago (Director: Jane Glover). Her solo in Ravel’s Trois beaux oiseaux du Paradis for the Grant Park Music Festival was praised by John von Rhein of the Chicago Tribune: “Soprano Susan Nelson floated her solo in the second Ravel chanson, Three Beautiful Birds of Paradise, gorgeously.
In the 2015-2016 season, Susan Nelson returned to Salt Creek Chamber Orchestra to sing Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, sang Josephine in HMS Pinafore with the Savoyaires, J.S. Bach's Messe in H Moll (BWV 232) with St. Luke Church in Chicago, Antonio Caldara’s Laud to the Nativity with Elmhurst Choral Union Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle with the Elgin Master Chorale, Donna Elvira in W.A. Mozart's Don Giovanni with Floating Opera Company, Gabriel Fauré's Requiem with Skokie Valley Symphony Orchestra and a recital with the Rock Valley College Orchestra. The 2016-2017 season included a concert in the inaugural season of the Midwest Mozart Festival, J.S. Bach’s Johannes-Passion (BWV 245) with Grace Lutheran Church: Bach Cantata Vespers, F. Mendelssohn’s Psalm 42 with Depaul Community Chorus, Song to the Moon from Rusalka with Fort Wayne Philharmonic and Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Sea Symphony with Fox Valley Symphony.
The 2017-2018 season included excerpts from Les Miserable and Phantom of the Opera as well as Christmas at the Acorn with Harbor Country Opera, The Animal Instinct (a program of animal inspired music) with Governors State University’s Opera Up Close, a recital for the Flossmoor Chapter of Lyric Opera of Chicago Guild, and Miriam’s Song of Triumph (Schubert) with the Chicago Bar Association Chorus. In the 2018-2019 season, Susan Nelson made her Prescott Pops Symphony debut in A Cole Porter Celebration, A Little Night Music – Celebrating the Musical Legacy of Stephen Sondheim with Sinfonietta Bel Canto, Schubert’s Mass in G and Liszt’s Coronation Mass with Elmhust Choral Union, and J.S. Bach’s Ich habe genug (BWV 82) with the Concordia University Chamber Orchestra.
In the 2019-2020 season, Susan Nelson sang Haydn’s Paukenmesse with First United Church of Oak Park Summer Sings, a concert of Broadway favorites with Harbor Country Opera, a return to the Midwest Mozart Festival, G.F. Handel's Messiah with Rockford Choral Union, and a recital for the 19th Century Club in Oak Park.
Susan Nelson is featured on Music of the Baroque, Chicago's Jubilate and Mother and Child CD's, Peace Be (works by David Jennings), and the Grant Park Music Festival Chorus’ first a cappella CD, Songs of Smaller Creatures and Other American Choral Works, which was released in 2012.
Susan Nelson is also Choir Director/Co-Music Director at Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church in Mount Prospect, Illinois. She currently lives in Chicago, Illinois. |
