Susan Thampi

Music can heavily enhance the visual medium. As both a musician and a filmmaker, I appreciate the connection of one medium to the other. The pieces that I am submitting have an inherently dark, somber, and melancholy quality which is evoked in the artwork that I am chosing. The artists has captured these raw emotions in a way that my music is meant to feel. In the works that I chose, I see melancholy, despair, passion, and loss. It is my sincere hope that my music only intensifies the beauty and depth that is already in such amazing artwork.

Mezzo-soprano Susan Thampi, began her music career in choral and sacred music. At 16, she debuted as an orotoria soloist for Bach\\\\\'s \\\\\"Magnificat\\\\\" with the Clovis West Chamber Singers. She sang performances at the Waikiki Pacific Basin Music Festival, Disney Epcot Center, and the Fresno Opera League. In 2002, Susan entered the Thornton School of Music at USC where she studied under Elizabeth Hynes.

While at USC, Susan performed in over a dozen operas and musicals. Her notable roles include Cherubino in Le Nozze Di Figaro,Third Lady in Die Zauberflote, and Mrs. Lovett in Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd. In 2005, Susan co-produced and starred in the world premiere of a topical opera \\\\\"The Stone House\\\\\" by Geoffrey Pope. The opera focused on the treacherous treatment of women in Southeast Asia. Most recently, Susan played the mezzo lead in the west coast premiere of \\\\\"Dreamplay\\\\\", a modern opera by S.J. Pettersson. Keeping with her choral roots,Susan has also appeared with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Gustav Holst’s The Planets, Berlioz’s Tristia, and The Trojan March under Esa Pekka Salonen.

Currently, Susan is an artist with Art of Elysium, a non-profit encouraging working artists and musicians to dedicate their time and talent to children who are fighting serious medical conditions. She is also producing and recording her first solo classical album with fellow musicians Yana Reznik, Lauren Pardini, Moni Simeonov, Brian Carmody, Dan Grab and John Storie.