In a world of endless auditions, it is rare to receive any tangible feedback from those making the casting decisions. Singers look to their coaches and teachers for advice but these people aren’t the ones on the casting panel choosing who to hire and fire! This masterclass will see three of our singers working with Susanna Stranders, the Head of Music at Garsington Opera. She is also a senior vocal coach at an array of conservatories, works regularly for the Royal Opera House amongst other theatres and adjudicates on competition and audition panels in the UK and abroad.
With this breadth of experience Susanna is ideally suited to giving our singers an elusive treasure – feedback from someone who is often on the other side of the panel. As an esteemed vocal coach, she will offer some honest feedback on our singer’s choice of audition repertoire and their delivery. We are looking forward to receiving insights from behind the scenes, and discovering how these decisions are really made. To top it all the morning will be spent listening to the new repertoire of our talented Opera Prelude young singers, Callie Gaston (soprano), Becca Marriott (soprano) and William Wallace (tenor) accompanied by Natalie Burch.
Susanna Stranders is Head of Music and Chorus Master for Garsington Opera where, in 2013, she conducted the Community Opera Road Rage. After graduating from Exeter University with first-class honours in music, Susanna studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and University of Cincinnati, winning many accompanist prizes. She was répétiteur for Cincinnati Opera, San Francisco Opera’s Merola Programme, and a member of the Houston Grand Opera Studio, Texas.
