Susan Platts

Bio

British-born Canadian mezzo-soprano Susan Platts brings a uniquely rich and wide-ranging voice to concert and recital repertoire for alto and mezzo-soprano, particularly esteemed for her performances of Gustav Mahler's works. She is a Fellow of the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative, which gave her the opportunity to work closely with Jessye Norman.

Ms. Platts has performed at Covent Garden, Royal Albert Hall, Royal Festival Hall, Teatro alla Scala, Teatro di San Carlo, Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center as well as with the Philadelphia, Cleveland and Minnesota Orchestras, Orchestre de Paris, London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, National Arts Centre Orchestra, Montreal, Toronto, American, Detroit, Milwaukee, Baltimore and Houston Symphonies, Les Violons du Roy, Boston's Handel and Haydn Society, as well as the Los Angeles and St. Paul Chamber Orchestras.

She has collaborated with many of today’s leading conductors including John Adams, Marin Alsop, Roberto Abbado, Sir Andrew Davis, Ludovic Morlot, Leon Botstein, Josep Caballé-Domenech, Christoph Eschenbach, JoAnn Falletta, Jane Glover, Vladimir Jurowski, Jeffrey Kahane, Carlos Kalmar, Keith Lockhart, Kent Nagano, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Sir Roger Norrington, Peter Oundjian, Itzhak Perlman, Carlos Miguel Prieto, Bramwell Tovey, Osmo Vänska and Pinchas Zuckerman.  Ms. Platts has appeared on many distinguished art song series including Vocal Arts Society at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Ladies Morning Musical Club in Montreal, Aldeburgh Connection in Toronto, and both the Frick Collection and Lincoln Center “Art of the Song” series in New York City.

Ms. Platts’ recent opera highlights include Die Walküre with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Mozart's Die Zauberflöte at the Royal Opera House,  John Adams' Nixon in China with the BBC Symphony, as well as Britten's Albert Herring (Pacific Opera, Vancouver Opera), Erda in Wagner’s Das Rheingold (Pacific Opera), and Bernstein’s A Quiet Place (Montreal Symphony Orchestra).

Ms. Platts discography includes a recent release on the Naxos label La Tragédie de Salomé (Florent Schmitt), Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde (chamber version), also on Naxos, Das Lied von der Erde (full version) for Fontec Records with the Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra, Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen with the Smithsonian Chamber Players and Santa Fe Pro Musica for Dorian Records, Brahms Zwei Gesänge with Steven Dann and Lambert Orkis, and a solo disc of Lieder by Robert Schumann, Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms on the ATMA label.

In 2021, she pursued her love of baking and wrote a cookbook Aria Ready for Dessert? – A Musician Takes Center Stage in the Kitchen.  She also started a food blog called Baking, Bits & Bobs.  www.bakingbitsandbobs.com