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The Australian soprano, Susannah Lawergren, obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in Politics and International Relations with Distinction from University of New South Wales (2001-2005); and her holds an Advanced Diploma of Opera from the Sydney Conservatorium (2006-2008).She has worked with vocal coaches and studied languages in Rome, Stockholm, New York and London where she has close family. In 2014, she studied early music at the Tafelmusik Baroque Summer School in Toronto, developing a passion for early music, especially an affinity for the music of J.S. Bach. She has won many awards and scholarships, including the Intermediate National Operatic Award and second place in the National Opera Award at the Australian National Eisteddfod, won art song and oratorio prizes at the Sydney Eisteddfod and was a finalist in the Opera Foundation’s Cologne German Award.
After graduating from the Sydney Conservatorium, Susannah Lawergren performed one season with Opera Australia’s NSW Schools Company and soon after, joined the Song Company as first soprano where she sang an incredibly diverse range of music full-time from 2011 to 2019. Since 2016, she has been a regular soloist and ensemble member with the Bach Akademie Australia (Director: Madeleine Easton) and in August 2021 sang the Wedding Cantata with them. In 2019 she formed a harp/soprano duo with Georgia Lowe, which in October 2021 will feature in the Resonate series with Andrew Goodwin at the Art Gallery of NSW. She has also performed at many of the major festivals in Australia, including the Sydney Festival, Adelaide Festival and Canberra International Music Festival (since May 2011), has recorded for Hyperion Records and has appeared many times on ABC Classic FM and fine Music FM.
Sydney soprano Susannah Lawergren has developed a reputation for her versatility, “stunning vocal expression” and “beautifully clear soprano”. She has has worked with some of the foremost ensembles in Australia including Ensemble Offspring, Opera Australia (January-July 2009), Australia Ensemble, Cantillation (2009-2014), Sydney Chamber Opera, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Hourglass Ensemble and international ensembles like Voces8, the Wallfisch Ensemble and Forma Antiqva. She has worked with many established and emerging composers and specialises in interpreting new vocal music.
Recent performances have included soprano soloist with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in Hans Zimmer’s Blue Planet (for 7000 people!), premiering song cycles for soprano and chamber ensemble at the Sydney Opera House’s Utzon Room, performing Schubert's Winterreise with Bradley Gilchrist for SongCoSOLO and recording for the Art Gallery of NSW’ Resonate Online and with Bach Akademie Australia for the Melbourne Digital Concert Hall in 2020 during the blanket cancellations of live performance.
This year, Susannah Lawergren is featured in the Bach Akademie Australia’s 2021 Season “The Many Voices of Bach”, will return to the Canberra Festival for Elena Kats-Chernin’s Late Spring as well as join old Song Company colleagues in Katy Abbott’s fascinating Hidden Thoughts. A developing collaboration between choreographer Paulina Quinteros, composer Elena Kats-Chernin, artist Wendy Sharpe and herself will have its first airing in mid-February, to be hopefully developed into a major show later in the year. This year she will also perform a series of concerts with harpist Georgia Lowe, including for Resonate 2021 at AGNSW. In late May she will return to Canberra for Art Song Canberra’s Season of Song with Maciej Pawela and again in June for the Vietnam Requiem. |
