Suzanna Guzman

Suzanna Guzmán, Emmy Award winning tv/radio host, opera director and mezzo soprano, is a native of East Los Angeles and has appeared as a principal soloist with orchestras and opera houses around the world, including the Metropolitan Opera, Washington National Opera, Dallas Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Opera de Genève and San Diego Opera, Houston Opera, to name a few. She is best known for her portrayal of the title role in Bizet’s Carmen, (Fire-breathing actress, devastatingly sexy.” TIME magazine) and has created roles in numerous world premiere operas with such notable composers as Giancarlo Menotti (Goya, Duchess of Alba), Daniel Catán (Florencia en el Amazonas, Paula) Tobias Picker (Fantastic Mr. Fox, Mrs. Fox), Michael Nyman (Facing Goya- US Premiere, The Art Banker) Ian Krause (Bodas de Sangre, The Mother), Hector Armienta (Bless me, Ultima, Ultima) Marc Lowenstein (Hopscotch-The Mobile Opera, Lucha) and most recently December 2019 with Eric Whitacre (Gift of the Magi, Sheila). In 2019, Guzmán appeared with Houston Grand Opera in Mexico City in the workshop production of Leonard Foglia’s Recuerdos de las Memorias, In Ragnar Kjartansson’s epic work Bliss, the 12-hour Mozart marathon, as Madame de la Halterre with Opera Del Wests acclaimed Cendrillon, and continues to hold the record for most female principal roles sung by an artist with Los Angeles Opera: over 400 performances. She is a Company member of Yuval Sharon’s experimental opera company, The Industry, and in a recent production of Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking, as Mrs. De Rocher, critics said: “Guzmán came across as so authentic, it transcended the artificiality of the theatrical experience. Everything seemed to melt away: the moment danced between sobering and exhilarating.” Fresno Bee;
A passionate arts advocate, Guzmán service to Arts and Community has garnered numerous awards including: 2015 Hispanic Scholarship Mentor of the Year, 2016 Mexican American Opportunity Foundation Woman of the Year, a Grammy nod for the 2006 Best Classical Recording, Helen Hayes Award best actress nomination for the Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors directed by Giancarlo Menotti, an honorary PhD from Occidental College and a 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Nederlander Organization.
Host of the PBS weekly TV series OPEN CALL for 52 episodes, in 2018 she hosted 59th L.A. County Holiday Celebration at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion which was nominated and won the 2019 Los Angeles Emmy Award. A longtime member of the Music Center Education Division and Music Center on Tour, her one-woman show Don’t Be Afraid! It’s Just Opera! has been performed for over 200,000 inner-city students nationwide. She serves on the roster of the Music Education Division and is a masterclass presenter for colleges and universities across the country including the Music Center’s Spotlight Awards. Visit www.suzannaguzman.com.