12/07/2025
✨ Spotlight on Our Librettist & Director, Susan Gonzalez ✨
At the heart of The Secret Melody is Susan Gonzalez, its librettist and the Artistic Director of Hunter Opera Theater.
👉 Reserve your seat:https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeP3i9_Y-HC_7zKrxIu-ropnQ02lMcdGmv1GjchsV5v0M9emQ/viewform
👇 Susan’s full bio below
SUSAN GONZALEZ is the Director of Hunter Opera Theater (HOT) at Hunter College, where she champions the development and production of new operatic works. Since launching HOT’s inaugural season in 2007, she has cultivated a dynamic platform for emerging composers, librettists, and singers. The 2025 season continues this mission with a workshop of The Secret Melody by Luc Baiwir, for which she also serves as dramaturg and librettist.
Dr. Gonzalez’s international career spans decades across film, theater, and opera. Her screen work includes the BBC series Sailor, honored with the British National SUN Award for Excellence. She began her professional singing career with the National Opera Company in leading roles such as Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte), Rosalinda (Die Fledermaus), and Norina (Don Pasquale). She later performed Violetta in La Traviata with the Lyric Opera of Chicago at Grant Park, as well as with Chicago Opera Theater, New Orleans Opera, and many other companies. Her international credits include acclaimed debuts with the Bolshoi Opera in Cheboksary and Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. Her televised performance as Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia earned an Emmy nomination. Her concert appearances include performances at New York’s Avery Fisher Hall with the National Symphony and at Carnegie Hall with the American Composers Orchestra. She has been featured with the Brooklyn Philharmonic, Cincinnati Symphony, and Annapolis Symphony. A passionate advocate of contemporary music and women composers, she has recorded for Naxos, Artek, Leonarda, and Westland Music Inc., showcasing works by Nicholas Flagello, Luc Baiwir, Joyce Hope Suskind, Ruth Schonthal, Elisenda Fábregas, and Elizabeth R. Austin.Dr. Gonzalez holds degrees from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and the Eastman School of Music, where she earned her Doctor of Musical Arts in Literature and Performance.
