Music staff of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
British pianist, conductor and répétiteur Susanna Stranders is a member of the Music Staff of The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. She was a member of The Royal Opera’s Young Artists Programme (2004–6).
Before taking up her current position with The Royal Opera, Stranders was Head of Music and Chorus Master for Garsington Opera, where she conducted the world premiere of Orlando Gough and Richard Stilgoe’s Road Rage. Stranders studied at Exeter University and at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, where she won many prizes. She continued her studies at the University of Cincinnati and worked as a répétiteur for Cincinnati Opera, San Francisco Opera’s Merola Programme and as a member of Houston Grand Opera Studio. She has worked regularly for The Royal Opera, Opera North, Glyndebourne, Salzburg Festival, New York City Opera, the Philharmonia, and the London, BBC and Taipei symphony orchestras. In recital, she has accompanied singers including René Pape, Bryn Terfel, John Tomlinson, James Gilchrist, Mark Padmore, Christine Rice and Angelika Kirchschlager. She has broadcast (radio and television) for the BBC and Sky Arts, with artists including Angel Blue, Joyce DiDonato and Tamara Wilson.
A passionate educator, Stranders coaches at leading British conservatoires and international summer schools, leads masterclasses around the world and regularly sits on audition and competition panels. She has been a pianist for both the Neue Stimmen and Veronica Dunne international singing competitions.