Merola Opera Program alumna and Schwabacher Award winner Susan Graham made her San Francisco Opera debut as Minerva in the 1990 production of Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria and returned in subsequent productions of La Clemenza di Tito (Annius) and Der Rosenkavalier (Octavian), in addition to creating the role of Sister Helen Prejean in Dead Man Walking. Last summer, she appeared with the Company in the title role of Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride, a role she has performed to great acclaim at Royal Opera, Covent Garden; Paris Opera; Lyric Opera of Chicago; and the Salzburg Festival. She has also recently appeared in the title role of The Merry Widow at Los Angeles Opera and as Sesto (La Clemenza di Tito) at the Metropolitan Opera. Other notable engagements include the title role of Monteverdi’s L’Incoronazione di Poppea at Los Angeles Opera and Houston Grand Opera; Octavian with Lyric Opera of Chicago; Sesto in Paris; and the Composer (Ariadne auf Naxos) and Sondra Finchley in Tobias Picker’s world premiere of An American Tragedy at the Met. Born in New Mexico and raised in Texas, the mezzo-soprano studied at Texas Tech University and the Manhattan School of Music. She was named Musical America’s 2004 Vocalist of the Year and was given the French Government’s highest artistic title, Commandeur dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. Upcoming engagements include Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni) and Marguerite (La Damnation de Faust) at the Met and Charlotte (Werther) at Paris Opera.