Susan Smith

Susan “Susie” Smith is an American soprano from Houston, Texas. She is currently a teaching assistant and graduate student in voice performance at the University of Texas at El Paso. Smith has been a soloist in Opera UTEP since August of 2016, where she has performed her most notable scenes: as Laurey in “Many A New Day” from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!; Fiordiligi in “Soave sia il vento” from Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte; Laurie in “The Promise of Living” from Aaron Copland’s The Tender Land; and Princess Stellina in “Art Is Calling For Me” from Victor Herbert’s The Enchantress. Smith was also cast as the cover for the role of Sally in Opera UTEP’s presentation of  Act 2 of Johann Strauss’s Die Fledermaus. In the summer of 2017, she participated in the Opera Viva training program in Verona, Italy, where she performed the second movement of Mozart’s Exsultate Jubilate at the Basilica Sant’Anastasia, and took the role of Damigella in a scene from Monteverdi’s L’incorinazione di Poppea. As a teaching assistant, Smith assists in instruction of vocal technique, diction for singers, and song literature. After earning her bachelor’s degree from the University of the Incarnate Word in 2014, Smith spent three months abroad in Flensburg, Germany refining her German language skills and learning from accomplished classical baritone Ansgar Hüning. Upcoming performances include a solo in Opera UTEP’s Spring production featuring scenes from Kurt Weill’s Street Scene. Smith takes particular interest in research concerning the intersection of feminism and opera, as well as vocal pedagogy for transgender students. In her free time Smith enjoys swimming, traveling, reading, belly dance, yoga, and playing with her flame point Siamese cat Timmy.