Guest artist Suzanne Hatcher, soprano, will present a solo recital on Friday, October 25, as part of the Fairmont State University Music on the Hill Artist Series. This family-friendly, free program will feature a wide variety of music, including the “Wesendonck-Lieder”—one of the rare non-operatic works of Richard Wagner—and Rachmaninoff’s famous “Vocalise.” Accompanying Hatcher on piano will be Fairmont State faculty member, John Morrison.
Suzanne Hatcher is an acclaimed singer, coach, conductor, arranger, and vocal pedagogue having taught and performed throughout the United States and Europe. Hatcher began her training at California State University, Stanislaus, where she studied voice, oboe, piano accompanying, and conducting. Upon graduating magna cum laude, she attended the prestigious Shepherd School of Music at Rice University on the Cecilia Bartoli Scholarship for Vocal Music. Choosing to pursue education over performance, she then attended the University of Miami, where she studied Choral Conducting, completing the coursework and exams for the Doctorate of Musical Arts.
As an educator, Hatcher has taught every grade level from kindergarten through master’s. She has been on the faculties of Florida International University, the University of South Florida, William Jewell College, the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City in Kansas, and the Kansas City Kansas Public School District. Wearing her arranger hat, Hatcher has presented internationally and had her arrangements performed and recorded by the professional choir Seraphic Fire, including a performance at the National Convention of the American Choral Director’s Association.
Believing a teacher should walk the walk, in addition to talking the talk, Hatcher maintains a fairly active performing schedule. Most recently, she was heard with Lawrence Opera Company singing leading role excerpts from Adriana Lecouvreur, La Juive, Der Walküre, and Tchaikovsky’s The Enchantress. She was the soprano soloist for the Midwestern Chamber Ensemble’s performance of Frank Schubert’s Mass in G. Hatcher has sung with Seraphic Fire, with whom she was nominated for 3 GRAMMY awards; the Kansas City Chorale; Spire Chamber Ensemble; Te Deum Antiqua; and Kantorei KC, but she will tell you her proudest accomplishment so far was being a soloist with New World Symphony under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas.
Partly retired from teaching, Hatcher runs the Music & Worship program for Monticello United Methodist Church, adjudicates throughout Kansas and Missouri, and “sells Swedish modern home furnishings to easily confused Midwesterners” — also known as working at IKEA. She lives in a suburb of Kansas City along with her two cats, Zen and Delilah. In her spare time, she loves cooking, reading, crocheting, and other crafts.
Invite your family and friends and enjoy live music with us. The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. in the Frank and Jane Gabor West Virginia Folklife Center on the campus of Fairmont State University. Admission is free and open to the public. A goodwill offering will be collected.
