Spotlight on Suzanne Karpov, soprano

Allegro was thrilled to catch up with Suzanne Karpov, City Choir’s soprano soloist for our March 26 concert, and the featured performer—alongside her husband, pianist Steven Seigart—at the March 11 Celebration of Women in Music Event.

Washington audiences have been lucky enough to enjoy Suzanne’s performances at area venues for a number of years, and the City Choir of Washington is very excited to welcome her to our family. Although March will mark Suzanne’s first outing with City Choir, this isn’t her first time singing for Artistic Director Erin Freeman. “Erin and I met back in 2017 when we performed together at Carnegie Hall,” Suzanne explains. “She conducted the Poulenc Gloria with a huge choir and orchestra, and I had the pleasure of singing the soprano solos. It was such an amazing experience and I look back on it as one of the best performances of my career so far. I was so nervous, but Erin had this generous smile on her face the whole time which calmed me—can’t wait to work with her again!!” Obviously, the feeling was mutual!

We asked Suzanne for a sneak peek of her program for the Celebration of Women in Music, which includes some of her favorite art songs in a huge range of styles, stretching from Baroque to contemporary composers. Her set will begin with Bach’s heartrending “Seufzer, Tränen, Kummer, Not,” from BWV 21, a preview of what City Choir’s audience will hear at March 26’s concert.

Suzanne shared some interesting insights about the similarities and differences between the Bach and some of the more modern pieces on her March 11 event program: “I'd say that the form for the Bach is very clear and predictable, and the text is repeated several times which contrasts with the Heggie or Poulenc [songs] where the text is more narrative in style and conveys a story rather than one deep emotion throughout. We're performing ‘Il vole’ by Poulenc and that's such a contrast to the Bach in that it's almost frantic and there are no repeated words. The Heggie is just fun and it provides a non-traditional view of the famous Adam and Eve story—I’m not so sure that Bach would've been a fan of its modern telling (text-wise!)”

In keeping with the theme of the event, Suzanne will also showcase works by female composers including Florence Price and Gilda Lyons. Suzanne says, “I'm grateful to be hearing and performing a lot more compositions by women.”

Suzanne and her husband Steven have recently welcomed a new addition to their musical household: a new baby! We asked her to share her favorite part—and biggest challenge—of collaborating with her spouse. She replied, “This one is easy! Favorite part: no need to schedule rehearsal times! Especially with a newborn in the house these days, it's really nice to put the little one down for a nap and then run to the piano together to rehearse. The challenging part might be that we're too nice to one another :P I'm always asking Steven to tell me how things sound (like you would with a coach), but I think he has a hard time treading that border between a nice husband and a critiquing coach.”

What’s next for Suzanne? “I have two different performances of Vaughan Williams’s Dona Nobis Pacem coming up—definitely excited about that! I just performed as soprano soloist in his Sea Symphony in Florida with a 40-piece orchestra, and it was thrilling! And I’m also excited to perform in Colorado as soloist for Dubois' Seven Last Words of Christ which I've never performed before,” she told us. Asked what works are on her performance bucket list, Suzanne said, “I definitely want to perform Poulenc Gloria again. I think it's one of the most gorgeous pieces out there, and I don't see it performed often enough. Also, I would love to sing the Mozart Mass in C Minor but as the Soprano II soloist. I love the ‘Laudamus Te’—anything with coloratura like that, sign me up!!” And although Washington audiences may have to wait, Suzanne confided that she’d “love to sing Violetta in La Traviata one day—not sure that I have the right voice for it technically, but I used to try singing ‘Sempre Libera’ in the shower as a 14 year old at home with Anna Netrebko's recording. I don't advise this for young singers, but I was just obsessed!”

We’ll be the first in line at the box office! In the meantime, don’t miss Suzanne’s performances at the City Choir of Washington’s Celebration of Women in Music on March 11 (you can find tickets here) and our concert “From Grief to Hope” on March 26 (you can find tickets here).