BMus, Voice (Performance and Teaching), Graduate Diploma of Music (Opera)
At St Margaret’s 1978 - 1981
Susan Dunn is an Australian soprano and current Artist Teacher of Opera Studies at The Shepherd School of Music, Rice University in Houston, Texas, a position she has held since 2002. While maintaining her teaching career, she regularly performs with leading orchestras and at renowned summer music festivals throughout North America and Europe.
Since leaving St Margaret’s, Susan graduated from the Queensland Conservatorium of Music with a Bachelor of Music in Voice and a Post Graduate Diploma of Opera. She pursued an opera career, which took her to London, the USA, Israel and throughout Australia, and has worked with companies including Opera Australia, Sydney Theatre Company, Opera Queensland and the Queensland Ballet. Susan has been a winner of major grants and musical awards. As a State and Commonwealth winner of the ABC Instrumental and Vocal Competition she had the opportunity to appear with Australia’s major orchestras. She was also the recipient of the prestigious Winston Churchill Fellowship Award, which led her to New York City, where she met her future husband, conductor Larry Rachleff.
Susan held positions as Lecturer at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music and the Queensland University of Technology, where she also devised programs in music theatre skills.
She has premiered Australian vocal works in concert both nationally and internationally. Composers David Heuser, St Margaret’s Old Girl and Notable Betty Beath, Stephen Lalor, David Hush and Paul Keelan have written for her.
Reflecting on her years at St Margaret’s, Susan said: “I realise how instrumental those years were in my preparation for a professional career. Two mentors at St Margaret’s were especially significant. My class music teacher, composer and pianist Betty Beath cast me as Francis of Assisi in her opera, Francis. Performed in St John’s Cathedral, this was an unforgettable and pivotal life experience for me. Later, Betty and I became dear friends and professional colleagues, performing numerous concerts of her compositions and making recordings for the ABC, 4MBS, and Jade EMI. In 2003, she became the godmother of my son, Sammy. Sister Phillipa, a tremendously creative, innovative speech and drama teacher with a remarkable spirit, was also an inspiring mentor. In the mid-1990s, I returned to St Margaret’s to teach voice, a truly rewarding experience, as was my wedding there in June of 2002!”
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