Susanne Burgess is a British-American soprano praised for a uniquely present and warm vocal color, penchant for legato line, dramatic fioratura, and engaging emotional expression on stage. Susanne has become a familiar face at The Metropolitan Opera, appearing next season as Frasquita in Carrie Cracknell's vibrant new production of Carmen, and in recent seasons as Dienerin 1 in Strauss's Die Frau ohne Schatten, conducted by Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and Countess Ceprano in Rigoletto. This summer she will debut with Opera Theater of St Louis as Norina in Don Pasquale before returning to the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence in a series of concerts. In 2025, Susanne makes exciting role debuts as the titular character in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor at Gulfshore Opera in FL, and as the tour-de-force Four Heroines in Les Contes d'Hoffmann at Florentine Opera. In 2023, she returned to the Atlanta Opera to reprise her critically-acclaimed role as Helena in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Earlier that year at the Oscar Larson Performing Arts Centeras Musetta in La bohème, she debuted the role of Magda in La rondine to critical acclaim at Southern Illinois Music Festival. After spending the summer of 2022 at Des Moines Metro Opera to debut the role of Helena in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Susanne traveled to Liceu Opera Barcelona to perform in the final round of the illustrious Tenor Viñas Competition and delivered a stunning turn as the leading role of Mabel in Gilbert & Sullivan's classic Pirates of Penzance. Shortly thereafter, Susanne made a role debut as Gildain Rigoletto with Boheme Opera NJ.​​

An accomplished performer on the Competition circuit, Susanne was awarded First Prize & the Audience Choice Award at both the Shreveport Opera Singer of the Year Competition and the Opera Birmingham Vocal Competition, First Prize at the National Opera Association’s Argento Competition, Second Prize at Opera Mississippi John Alexander Competition, and Winner of the GA district in both 2021 and 2022 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. She was also the recipient of a Career Grant from The Gerda Lisner Foundation in New York City.

In early 2020, Susanne performed the role of Violetta Valéry in ​La Traviata, starring in 8 performances as part of the Winter USA Tour with Teatro Lirico d’Europa. Susanne was scheduled to make her role debut as Gilda in a new production of Rigoletto at Opera North and Woglinde in Das Rheingold at The Atlanta Opera before the COVID19 pandemic sadly postponed these performances. Among efforts to preserve art and opera during the pandemic, she took part in the Summer Season at Opera Theater St. Louis presenting arias and ensembles in a virtual festival which culminated in a masterclass series with internationally renowned sopranos, Patricia Racette and Nova Thomas. 

In 2019 Susanne made her debut with New York City Opera as Hannah in the World  Premiere of ​Dear Erich by Ted Rosenthal. She returned to the company in the role of Musetta in Puccini’s ​La Bohème. Later that year, she joined Teatro Grattacielo in NYC as Mimí in Leoncavallo’s ​La Bohème and​ La Principessa in Respighi’s ​La bella dormente nel bosco. ​

No stranger to Concert and Oratorio work, Susanne made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2017 with the New England Symphony singing the Pie Jesu from Fauré Requiem and Soprano solos in John Trotta’s The Seven Last Words of Christ. She returned to Carnegie Hall the following year to perform the Soprano solos in Jubilate Deo and Requiem for the Living by Dan Forrest.