Susan Graham | 1988 Winner
Born in New Mexico and raised in Texas, Susan Graham studied at Texas Tech University and the Manhattan School of Music, which awarded her an honorary Doctor of Music in 2008. She won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and the Schwabacher Award from San Francisco Opera’s Merola Opera Program, as well as a Career Grant from the Richard Tucker Music Foundation. Graham was Musical America’s 2004 Vocalist of the Year, and in 2006 her hometown of Midland, Texas declared September 5 “Susan Graham Day” in perpetuity. At home and abroad, Susan Graham has sung leading roles from the 17th to 20th centuries in the great opera houses of the world, including Milan’s La Scala, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Vienna State Opera, Opéra national de Paris, Dresden’s Semperoper, and the Salzburg Festival.