Susanne Mentzer

Susanne Mentzer (born January 21, 1957) is an American operatic mezzo-soprano. She is best known for singing trouser roles, such as Cherubino in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, Idamante in Mozart's Idomeneo, Octavian in Richard Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier and the composer in Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos, as well as other music of Mozart, Strauss, Rossini, Berlioz and Mahler.

She created the role of the mother of Yueyang in Tan Dun's opera The First Emperor at the Metropolitan Opera on December 21, 2006. She has also premiered works by Libby Larsen, Daniel Brewbaker and Carlisle Floyd.

Mentzer was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and raised in Maryland and New Mexico. She was first introduced to opera as a teenager, when she worked as an usher at the Santa Fe Opera. She studied music therapy at the University of the Pacific and received her bachelor's and master's degrees at the Juilliard School. She later participated in the Houston Grand Opera Studio.