Mezzo-soprano Suzanne Lommler is adjunct professor of voice at Simpson College. She enjoys helping others on their quest to develop a healthy singing technique and find their own voice. She is also very active as a performer.
Her recent performances in Chicago with Haymarket Opera have garnered great critical acclaim. The Chicago Tribune wrote of her “dark and alluring” voice in the role of the sorceress Melissa (Handel’s Amadigi): “Lommler’s assured technique allowed her to turn on a dime from fury to pathos and back again. Her sorceress all but burned up the stage.” The Chicago Classical Review wrote: “Deploying her exceptionally pliant, crisp mezzo-soprano voice, she romped through Handel’s twisting, leaping arias like a proud lioness.” As Silvia in Haydn’s L’isola disabitata, The Chicago Tribune wrote: “displaying beautiful voice and clear projection of the Italian text…Lommler conveyed Silvia’s ingenuous charm through a perky stage manner and a warm, focused tone that was equal to the role’s wide vocal compass.
Her 2017 engagements include a recital with Grammy-nominated harpsichordist Jory Vinikour at Great Lakes Baroque Festival (Milwaukee); the Haymarket Opera Company Gala in Chicago; a return to Orchestra Iowa to sing the Bach Mass in B minor; and Mahler’s Rückertlieder with the Central Iowa Symphony.
A recent concert of Mozart operatic arias with the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony was reviewed: “Her crystal-clear voice is ideal for highly dramatic operatic scores, and is wonderfully supple as she easily conveys her characters’ moods.” (Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier). She was soloist with Orchestra Iowa in Bach’s St. John Passion. Both concerts were broadcast on Iowa Public Radio. She was also a soloist with the Indianapolis Symphonic Choir and Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra in Bach’s Magnificat; and performed Bizet’s Carmen in the film Kharmen, by Jay Bolotin,
Other roles include Melide in Cavalli’s Ormindo (Pittsburgh Opera); Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro,Dorabella in Così fan tutte, Second Lady in Die Zauberflöte, Barbarina in Le Nozze di Figaro (Hamburger Kammeroper, Germany); and Annio in La Clemenza di Tito (her New York City début), conducted by Julius Rudel.
Other engagements include recitals at the Handel House Museum in London; Hamburg’s Opernsalon series; a concert tour of Scotland with the Edinburgh Quartet; Bach’s Magnificat with the Kansas City Symphony; Britten’s Rejoice in the Lamb with the Cincinnati May Festival, conducted by James Conlon; and the Bloomington Early Music Festival.
She has also worked with the Spoleto Festival (Italy), Cincinnati Opera, Portland Opera Repertory Theatre, Florida Grand Opera, Utah Festival Opera, Garsington Opera, the Glyndebourne Festival Opera, and Glyndebourne on Tour. She has been a member of the Ravinia Festival’s Steans Institute and the Tanglewood Institute.
She received her Master’s degree in vocal performance from the Manhattan School of Music and Bachelor’s degree in vocal performance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
