
VITA
"Susan Zarrabi's
Cherubina is a heroic effort [...] and she breezes through her lines with an ease and fluency that deserve to be showcased [...]". - Financial Times
"Mit ihrem breit funkelnden, jedoch niemals behäbig dahinströmenden Mezzosopran nimmt die Münchnerin sofort für sich ein, und sie singt so klar und unerhört textverständlich, dass man aufs Mitlesen quasi völlig verzichten kann."
- Tagesspiegel
"Agil präsent spielend und singend: Susan Zarrabi"
- Süddeutsche Zeitung
"Der jungen Mezzo-sopranistin Susan Zarrabi ist anzumerken, dass sie die Cherubino-Arien bereits anderswo gesungen hat und jetzt alle Finessen des schwebenden und zugleich drängenden Daseins bravourös vermitteln kann." - Berliner Morgenpost
The Munich-Born mezzo-soprano Susan Zarrabi has been a member of the ensemble at the Komische Oper Berlin since the 2022/23 Season, where she has performed roles such as Dorabella in W.A.Mozart's Cosi fan Tutte, Cherubino in
W.A. Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, Varvara in L.Janacek’s
Katja Kabanowa and Cupido in J.Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld among others.
In the current 2024/25 season, she will portrait such roles as Hänsel in E. Humperdinck‘s Hänsel und Gretel,
the Zweite Dame in W.A. Mozart's Die Zauberflöte
and Nefertiti in P. Glass‘ Akhnaten.
In November 2024 Susan Zarrabi made her debut at Semperoper Dresden singing Flora Bervoix in G.Verdi’s
La Traviata.
In March 2023, the young mezzo-soprano made her debut at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg as well as at the Stadtcasino in Basel, singing Dorabella from W.A. Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte, together with the Basel Chamber Orchestra conducted by Giovanni Antonini.
In November 2023 she was heard in the world premiere of
V. Genin Alkestis, a mono-opera for mezzo-soprano and strings, conducted by Oksana Lyniv at the Pierre Boulez Hall in Berlin. In Summer 2024 she sang the part of Amore in C.W. Gluck‘s Orfeo ed Euridice at the Spoleto Festival dei due Mondi in Italy as well as Cherubino in W.A. Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro at the Edinburgh International Festival in Scotland.
Various engagements took the mezzo-soprano to opera houses across Europe such as the Bayerische Staatsoper, Staatstheater Augsburg and Alte Oper Frankfurt.
In June 2024 the mezzo-soprano performed both at the International Music Festival Kissinger Sommer together with the BBC Symphony Orchestra in F. Mendelssohn-Bartholdy‘s A Midsummernight‘s Dream under the Baton of Sakari Oramo and at the International Concert Series Wolfegg together with the German Radio Philharmonic Orchestra in F. Schubert‘s Mass in E-flat-Major under the baton of Manfred Honeck.
In September 2024 Susan Zarrabi performed together with the Boulez Ensemble in L. Berio‘s Folk Songs under the Baton of Thomas Guggeis.
In December 2024 the mezzo-soprano made her debut at the Philharmonie in Berlin with J.S. Bach‘s Christmas Oratorio.
Her concert repertoire spans epochs of masses, oratorios and passions, including G. F. Handel's Messiah, J. S. Bach's
Mass in B minor, St. John Passion and Christmas Oratorio,
F. Mendelssohn- Bartholdy's Elijah and St. Paul,
and G. Rossini's Petite Messe solennelle.
Susan Zarrabi can regularly be heard in recitals, some of which include cooperations with Gerold Huber in 2021 and 2023 as part of the Schubert Week at the Pierre Boulez Hall in Berlin.
Other she performed together with her Lied duo partner Aurelius Braun, with whom she was also
a finalist and won the special prize at the 2022 Wigmore Hall Song Competition in London.
In January 2024 the Lied Duo took part in the Espresso-Concert-Series at at the Konzerthaus Berlin, where she was also heard in October 2024 with Weill-Songs, accompanied by the orchestra of the Komische Oper Berlin under the baton of James Gaffigan .
In addition she is a two-time scholarship recipient of the Lied Academy of the Heidelberger Frühling International Music Festival (2016/2017) under the direction of Thomas Hampson. In 2018 and 2023, the mezzo-soprano was a guest at the Gustav Mahler Festival in Steinbach am Attersee. In 2019, as well as the following year, she was heard at the Gustav Mahler Society in Hamburg. In 2021, she also sang Mahler songs alongside Thomas Hampson at the Gustav Mahler Forum for Music and Society in Klagenfurt, Austria.
January 2025