Susan Owen-Leinert joined the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music in 2005 after enjoying over 20 years of performing opera and concert internationally. She made her European debut with an invitation from Maestro Daniel Barenboim to the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin, where she sang Senta (Der Fliegende Holländer) and Helmwige (Die Walküre). Ms. Owen has sung major roles in guest engagements at the Deutsche Oper Berlin (Isolde, Tristan und Isolde; Christian Thielemann conducting), Semper Oper Dresden (Barak's Frau, Die Frau ohne Schatten), Deutsche Oper am Rhein (Isolde and Senta) and Opéra de Nancy et de Lorraine, France (Isolde). Her interpretation of the title role of Elektra by Richard Strauss was hailed in the press as the “Singer-Discovery of the year 2000", a role she performed at Staatstheater Darmstadt, Aalto Theater Essen, Antikenfestspiele in Trier,Theater Münster and Staatsoper Hannover.

At Staatstheater Darmstadt she was a full-time ensemble member from 1999 – 2002 where she performed the roles of Isolde, Barak's Frau, Emily Marty (The Makropoulos Case) and Ortrud (Lohengrin). Ms. Owen sang Brünnhilde (Der Ring des Nibelungen) with great critical acclaim at Staatstheater Kassel. Complete live recordings of Die Walküre, Siegfried and Götterdämmerung were successfully released on CD by Ars Production, Germany.

As Brünnhilde she was a guest in numerous opera houses including Oper Bonn, l'Opéra Royal de Wallonie, Teatro Giuseppe Verdi in Trieste and Theatre Kiel, as well as concert performances in Taipei and Tokyo.

As a full-time ensemble member of Staatstheater Kassel (1995-1999) Ms. Owen performed Senta, Marie (Wozzeck), Santuzza (Cavalleria Rusticana), Leonora (La Forza del Destino), Giorgetta (Il Tabarro) and the title role of Jenufa. Her career includes many engagements in the USA, for instance with the Palm Beach Opera she performed both Elisabeth and Venus in Wagner’s Tannhäuser conducted by Anton Guadagno. With the Austin Lyric Opera she performed the roles of Aida, Tosca and Elisabeth ( Tannhäuser ) and with the Opera Orchestra of New York she sang Irene (Rienzi) conducted by Eve Queler. Other major Italian roles include Amelia (Un Ballo in Maschera), Maddalena (Andrea Chénier), Leonora (Il Trovatore) and Lady Macbeth.

Highlights of her performances on the concert stage include the Mahler 8th Symphony (Soprano 1) at the Beethoven Festival in Bonn and Cologne,  La Terre for soprano, piano and orchestra by Zygmunt Krauze for Radio France in Paris, Schoenberg’s Gurrelieder in both Darmstadt and Bratislava, Wagner’s Wesendonck-Lieder as well as the Vier letzte Lieder by Richard Strauss.

Receiving her Bachelor of Music Degree from East Carolina University and her Master of Music Degree from the University of Texas at Austin, Ms. Owen captured the attention of the opera world when she was a winner of the 1990 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and in 1991 the Opera America Award.

Associate Professor of Voice Susan Owen-Leinert founded the Memphis Opera & Song Academy, a summer academy for opera singers on the verge of international careers.  She is the General Manager of The Chamber Opera of Memphis which since 2007 has successfully produced contemporary opera productions such as The Medium by Peter Maxwell Davis which was invited to Germany for guest performances. In 2009 Susan Owen-Leinert was the recipient of the CCFA Dean’s Creative Achievement Award. She has been a guest lecturer, recitalist and given master classes in the United States, Germany and Cyprus.

As the President of the Louis Spohr Society of the United States, Ms. Owen-Leinert is the editor of the first critical edition of the complete Lieder by Louis Spohr in 12 volumes with the German Publisher Dohr in Cologne.

Visit her personal website at www.owen-leinert.com .