Susan Parkes held a scholarship at the Royal College of Music where she gained Bmus (Hons) and PGDip (dist).   Roles include: Contessa (Figaro), Cio Cio San, Kate Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly), Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), Erste Dame (Magic Flute), Fiordiligi (Cosi Fan Tutte), Fedon (Satie’s Socrates), Kätchen (Werther) Ines (Il Trovatore), Leonore (Fidelio), Michaella (Carmen), Poppea (Efthymiou’s Fragments of Sun), Santuzza (Cavalleria Rusticana), with companies such as Opera Holland Park, Opera de Baugé (France), Classical Opera Company, Opera London, Kentish Opera, Enharmonia Lirica (Italy) and English Opera Singers. Highlights include performances at Sadler’s Wells, the Buxton Festival, Salzburg International Festival, the Lindbury Studio Covent Garden and tours in Italy, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Australia.

Susan has premiered and recorded as soloist many brand new works including the award winning, No1 selling album, Karl Jenkins’ “Armed Man’s Mass for Peace” (subsequently recorded for Virgin Records) at the Royal Albert Hall, Amy Wurtz’s “Message from the Soul”, Matthew West’s “Metamorphosis” (Broadcast on Radio 3), Davidson’s “Lord of all Creation”, Darren Bloom’s contemporary arrangment of Schubert Songs with the Ossian Ensemble at St Martin in the Fields, also premiering the role of “Poppea” in “Fragments of Sun” (a role especially written for her voice) by Litha and Effy Efthymiou for Tete a Tete Opera at the Riverside Studios London.

She has also been interviewed and sung live on BBC Radio, E4 television, and was featured as soloist and on screen as the character “Melvina Walters” in the Hollywood film ‘If Only’ with Jennifer Love-Hewitt. On Stage Susan sang in the London premiere of the play “As I Like It” by Amanda Eliasch later being pictured in “Hello!” Magazine.

 

She is equally in demand for her concert work and in Oratorio such as Mozart’s Requiem, Masses, Exultate Jubilate, Greig’s complete Peer Gynt, Verdi’s Requiem, Brahms’ Requiem, Dvorak’s Te Deum, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Canterloube’s Chants d’Auvergne, Vaughn Williams’ Sea Symphony, Haydn’s Nelson Mass, Rachmaninoff’s Vocalise, Coleridge-Taylor’s Death of Minnehaha and Orff’s Carmina Burana at venues including the Royal Albert Hall (including the Proms), Salzburg International Festival, I Malatesta Opera festival (Italy), Symphony Hall Birmingham, St John Smith Square, St James Piccadilly, Cadogen Hall, St Martin’s in the Field, and the Fairfield Halls. Susan won the “Umberto Giordano Prize” in the “12th International Umberto Giordano Competition” and recently sang on Italian television (Rai Due). Forthcoming events include Susan’s voice being turned into an “App” that is triggered when smart phones are held over large scale works in the “Military Ribbons” touring art exhibition by Matthew Maxwell at the Consingsby Gallery London. 2014 also sees the release of her debut album with Sleeveless Records , Opera a la Carte’s UK tour of Madama Butterfly, the main role in “Parting” a brand new opera to be premiered at London’s King’s Place and Donna Anna in Don Giovanni for Opera Vera.