Susan Wheeler

Soprano

Wheeler HeadshotSoprano Susan Wheeler is a dynamic operatic and concert performer, and a trained Equity actress. Her fiery coloratura, dramatic intensity, and comedic timing have drawn comparisons with singers of the golden Bel Canto era. Of her recent performance in Don Pasquale, The Baltimore Sun raved: “Susan Wheeler looked like the heroine of a vaudeville skit and had a field day portraying Norina.” Applauding Ms. Wheeler’s concert performance in Candide with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, The Tucson Citizen called her “splendid and hilarious as Cunegonde.” The Annapolis Capitol praised her prize-winning performance in the Annapolis Opera Vocal Competition, declaring that she sang “an extraordinarily articulated rendition of the ‘Bell Song’. The ease with which Ms. Wheeler put every note in precisely the right place, caused comment that even the famous Lily Pons, for whom it was something of a signature aria, hadn’t done it that perfectly, and maybe even not that beautifully.”

Learn More    

Ms. Wheeler’s recent engagements include her Carnegie Hall debut with Mozart’s Requiem and Dvorák’s Te Deum with the New England Symphonic Ensemble under the baton of Jonathan Griffith, Gretel and the three heroines in Les Contes d’Hoffmann with Augusta Opera, Papagena in The Magic Flute with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Maria in the West Side Story Concert Suite with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, and Konstanze with Bel Cantanti Opera under the direction of Francois Loup. Her other operatic credits include Violetta in La Traviata, Marie in La Fille du Régiment, Norina in Don Pasquale, Valencienne in The Merry Widow, and Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier. Susan’s acclaimed concert work includes Charpentier’s Messe de Minuit and Brahms’ Ein Deutches Requeim with the New Dominion Chorale, Haydn’s Die Schöpfung with the award-winning Choralis ensemble, and recitals of the coloratura showcase arias of Galli-Curci, Tetrazzini, and Ponselle at the Korean, Russian and Austrian Embassies.

Ms. Wheeler’s notable upcoming engagements include the Brahms Requiem with Grammy- winning conductor Robert Schafer and the New Dominion Chorale, Snegurochka in Dvorak’s The Snow Maiden at Washington’s historic Hillwood Theatre, and a world premiere of Andrew Simpson’s Klytemnestra Songs with the award-winning New Millennium Ensemble at the Smithsonian Institution’s American Art Museum. Ms. Wheeler has been Resident Soprano with this chamber group since 2002.

An acclaimed singing actress, Ms. Wheeler has appeared with Encores! at City Center in The New Moon, covered Johanna in Sweeny Todd at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and sang the principal role of The Journalist in 90 North, a Kennedy Center “In The Works” musical by ASCAP award winner Daniel Sticco. Ms. Wheeler has also performed a cabaret program of Bernstein, Sondheim, Webber, and Loewe at The Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts.

Born in Wisconsin, Ms. Wheeler received her Bachelor of Music degree from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and a Graduate Performance Diploma from the Peabody Conservatory. She is a recipient of the Thoman Career Grant, a winner in the McAllister International Vocal Competition and the Annapolis Opera Vocal Competition, and an alumna of the Des Moines Metro Opera and Opera North Young Artist Programs.

    See Less