SUSAN NARUCKI
With a passion for discovery and wide-ranging interests, soprano Susan Narucki has appeared with some of the world's leading orchestras and conductors, has extraordinary collaborations in recital, chamber music and opera, and has built an impressive discography, including Grammy Award-winning recordings. The Boston Globe recently wrote " Susan Narucki has intelligence, wit, presence, drop-dead musicianship and a voice you want to hear."
Recent orchestral appearances include the Cleveland Orchestra with Pierre Boulez in Stravinsky's Les Noces, which she has also performed with the San Francisco Symphony and Michael Tilson Thomas at Carnegie Hall. With the Los Angeles Philharmonic, she was heard as Pat Nixon in excerpts from John Adams' Nixon in China under the composer's baton and she appeared on the Great Performers Series at Lincoln Center in Louis Andriessen's monumental De Materie.
With a broad repertoire reaching back to Bach and Mozart, she has been soloist with Concentus Musicus Wein, the Orchestra of the 18th Century, Pittsburgh, Colorado, Milwaukee, and New World Symphonies, Residentie Orchestra of The Hague, Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestra, and Hungarian National Philharmonic, among many others.
One of the foremost interpreters of 20th/21st century music, Susan Narucki has been soloist with the world's leading contemporary music ensembles, including the London Sinfonietta, Ensemble Modern, Nieuw Ensemble, San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, Speculum Musicae, and Collage. Narucki has also appeared as soloist on the modern chamber works series of the New York Philharmonic and Chicago Symphony, and on Carnegie Hall's Making Music series at Zankel Hall. Since 1991, she has been a regular guest of the Schoenberg and Asko Ensembles with conductor Reinbert de Leeuw, both in Holland and throughout Europe at major music festivals in Paris, London, Warsaw, Lisbon, Munich, and Vienna.
A distinguished chamber musician, Narucki has frequently appeared at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival (most recently with pianist Joseph Kalichstein) Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and with the Orion String Quartet. Her recital appearances include the Liszt Academy in Budapest, Kleine Zaal in Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, Tisch Center for the Arts at the 92nd Street Y, Princeton University, American Academy in Rome, and the venerable Monday Evening Concerts series in Los Angeles. A long-time champion of the music of György Kurtag, Susan Narucki joined violinist Daniel Phillips in Kurtag's hour-long, voice-and-violin song cycle Kafka Fragments in a performance honoring the composer at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall.
Narucki has appeared in world premieres of numerous innovative operas. She made her Netherlands Opera debut creating the role of Catherina Bolnes in Writing to Vermeer, the collaboration of composer Louis Andriessen and film director Peter Greenaway. She traveled with the production to the Adelaide and Lincoln Center Festivals and recorded it for Nonesuch Records. In the world premiere of Claude Vivier's Reves d'un Marco Polo, the critically acclaimed production of the Netherlands Opera, Narucki was singled out for unanimous praise; the Dutch magazine Vrij Nederland exclaimed "...one name we will never forget: Susan Narucki, the American soprano, who gave us all goosebumps and moved us to tears." Directed by Pierre Audi, conducted by Reinbert de Leeuw, this ground-breaking work was recently filmed for European television.
With Theater & Musique of Paris, Narucki has appeared in the world premieres of To Be Sung, the collaboration by composer Pascal Dusapin and American artist James Turrell, which has had over fifty performances throughout Europe, as well as in James Dillon's Philomela. Her performances in opera also include works by Handel, Mozart, Haydn, Gluck, Ravel, Poulenc and Strauss, among others.
Nominated for a Grammy in Best Classical Vocal Performance for Elliott Carter's Tempo e Tempi (Bridge), Narucki's extensive discography ranges from works of Zemlinsky and Stravinsky to works of numerous living composers including two recent releases of world premiere operas: Louis Andreissen's Writing to Vermeer (Nonesuch) and Claude Vivier's Reves D'un Marco Polo, (Opus Arte DVD). Her recordings of the music of George Crumb have been awarded a 2001 Grammy as well as a Cannes Award for Best Recording of Works by a Living Composer. Her performance of Jacob Druckman's Salome with David Zinman conducting the Aspen Festival Orchestra was included in a two-CD set commemorating the Festival's 50th Anniversary
Other recordings include Andriessen's opera De Materie (Nonesuch), works of Vivier (Philips), works of Mario Davidovsky (Bridge), works of the Second Viennese school with the Schoenberg String Quartet for Chandos, and two recent releases of world premiere operas: Louis Andreissen's Writing to Vermeer (Nonesuch) and Claude Vivier's Reves D'un Marco Polo, (Opus Arte DVD). She can be heard on SONY Classical, Philips, Angel, Chandos, Nonesuch, Decca, Bridge, and many other labels.
Current season includes appearances with the Metropolitan Opera Chamber Ensemble at Zankel Hall, with the Rotterdam Philharmonic and Residentie Orchestra of the Hague, at the Ojai and Budapest Autumn Festival and the world premiere and recording of Libby Larsen and Philip Littell's opera Every Man Jack at Sonoma City Opera. Susab Narucki will present works of Schoenberg and Mussorgsky with pianist Boris Berman at Yale University as well as the American premiere of works of Alexander Raskatov with the Seattle Chamber Players. Forthcoming recordings include song cycles of Aaron Jay Kernis for Koch International, music of Jim Primosch (Bridge) and songs of Charles Ives with pianist Donald Berman for New World.
On August 9, 2007 Susan Narucki will perform selected pieces at the Cabrillo Festival's Music In the Mountains Benefit Concert. On August 12, 2007 she will perform in the Festival's West Coast Premiere of Aaron Jay Kernis' Valentines.