Shawnette Sulker
Soprano
Shawnette Sulker has been described by the San Francisco Chronicle as a singer “…displaying a bright,
superbly controlled soprano with perfectly placed coloratura.”
On the operatic stage, Ms. Sulker has been a featured artist in three San
Francisco Opera productions: Porgy and Bess, The Mother of Us
All, and Louise. She was also a part of the joint production of Dido
and Aeneas between San Francisco Opera and the Crucible, singing
the roles of Second Woman and Second Witch. A native of Guyana,
the soprano has sung leading roles with many other companies
including Hawaii Opera Theatre, Internationale Opera Producties (The
Netherlands), Opera Naples, Union Avenue Opera, Natchez Opera
Festival, Festival Opera, Mendocino Music Festival, West Bay Opera,
Berkeley Opera, Livermore Valley Opera and Pacific Opera Theatre to
name a few. Roles in Ms. Sulker’s repertoire include Die Königin der
Nacht (Die Zauberflöte), Olympia/Giulietta/Antonia (Les Contes
d’Hoffmann), Adele (Die Fledermaus), Oscar (Un ballo in
maschera), Adina (L’elisir d’amore), Musetta (La Bohème), Lauretta
(Gianni Schicchi), Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), Zerlina and Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), Frasquita and
Micaëla (Carmen), Despina (Così fan tutte), Clara and Serena (Porgy and Bess), Belinda and Second
Woman (Dido and Aeneas), Amore (Orfeo ed Euridice), Servilia (La clemenza di Tito), Treemonisha
(Treemonisha), Rosabella (The Most Happy Fella) and Little Red Riding Hood (Little Red Riding
Hood).
Ms. Sulker created the role of Corina in the world-premiere of David Conte’s opera Firebird Motel. This
original cast recording can be found on the Arsis label. Her film credits include a soundtrack performance for
the movie Mimic and an on-camera operatic appearance in the feature film Jackson directed by J.F. Lawton.
In concert, Ms. Sulker has performed the soprano solos in Handel’s Messiah and Bach’s Non sa che sia
dolore with American Bach Soloists. She has sung St. Teresa I (Four Saints in Three Acts) and
Monteverdi’s Lamento della ninfa for Mark Morris Dance Group in Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall. The
soprano made her European concert debut with the Jugendsinfonieorchester Leipzig singing all the female
roles in a concert version of Porgy and Bess and the soprano solos in Mendelssohn’s Psalm 42 in Leipzig’s
Gewandhaus and Prague’s Smetana Hall. She also performed a solo recital in Amsterdam’s Red Door Studio.
Ms. Sulker has also performed as soloist in Mozart’s Exsultate, Jubilate, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass and
Orff’s Carmina Burana with Santa Clara Chorale & Symphony Silicon Valley. For the San Francisco Choral
Society, she has sung Mozart’s Grand Mass in C minor, Monteverdi’s Vespro della Beata Virgine and
Bach’s Weihnachts-Oratorium and Magnificat. With Masterworks Chorale, Ms. Sulker has performed
Fauré’s Requiem, Bernstein’s The Lark and Carmina Burana. She has also sung Orff’s masterpiece with
the UC Davis Symphony Chorus & Orchestra (as well as Rutter’s Requiem), the Mendocino Music Festival
and Livermore Valley Chorale. Other performances with Livermore Valley Chorale/San Francisco Concert
Chorale include Schubert’s Mass in G and Mozart’s Requiem. She debuted with Peninsula Cantare singing
the soprano solos in Haydn’s Mass in B♭ and Pergolesi’s Magnificat. Other distinctions include the soprano
solos in Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 with Redwood Symphony, a Pops Tribute to Leonard Bernstein with
Mendocino Music Festival and Mozart’s Missa Brevis in G, which was performed at the National Shrine in
Washington, DC. Ms. Sulker has been a special guest of the Ritz-Carlton in Osaka, Japan where she has
performed a series of Christmas concerts.
Shawnette Sulker
Selected Resume
Role
Opera
Company
Year
Zerlina
Queen of the Night
Adele
Rosabella
Belinda
Donna Anna
Susanna
Micaëla
The Witch
Soloist (Funeral Scene)
Musetta
Amore
Queen of the Night
The Stranger
Musetta
Lauretta
Olympia/Giulietta/Antonia
Gretel
Pamina
Treemonisha
Die Königin der Nacht
Madame Silberklang
Little Red Riding Hood
St. Teresa I
Félicie
Susanna
Mabel
Second Woman/First Witch
Adele
Adele
Servilia
Negro Woman
Corina
Oscar
Adina
Despina
Susanna
Belinda
Clara
Sophie Scholl
La Plieuse
Don Giovanni
The Magic Flute
Die Fledermaus
The Most Happy Fella
Dido and Aeneas
Don Giovanni
Le nozze di Figaro
Carmen
Witch of Endor - Purcell pastiche
Porgy and Bess
La Bohème
Orfeo ed Euridice
The Magic Flute
Qateeni Opera (Bosc)
La Bohème
Gianni Schicchi
Les Contes d'Hoffmann
Hansel and Gretel
The Magic Flute
Treemonisha
Die Zauberflöte
Der Schauspieldirektor
Little Red Riding Hood
Four Saints in Three Acts
La Belle et la Bête
The Marriage of Figaro
The Pirates of Penzance
Dido and Aeneas
Die Fledermaus
Bat Out of Hell (Fledermaus)
La clemenza di Tito
The Mother of Us All
Firebird Motel (Conte) Premier
Un ballo in maschera
L'elisir d'amore
Così fan tutte
The Marriage of Figaro
Dido and Aeneas
Porgy and Bess
White Rose (Zimmerman)
Louise
Opera Naples
Pacific Opera Theatre
Internationale Opera Producties
Festival Opera
West Bay Opera
Project Opera
Hawaii Opera Theatre
Mendocino Music Festival
Urban Opera
San Francisco Opera
Mendocino Music Festival
West Bay Opera
Townsend Opera
Gallo Center for the Arts
San Francisco Lyric Opera
Union Avenue Opera
San Francisco Lyric Opera
San Francisco Opera Guild
San Francisco Opera Guild
Natchez Opera Festival
Livermore Valley Opera
Opera Academy of California
Natchez Opera Festival
Mark Morris Dance Group
Oakland Opera Theater
Cinnabar Theater
San Francisco Opera Guild
San Francisco Opera/Crucible
North Bay Opera
Berkeley Opera
Voci Feroci Ensemble
San Francisco Opera
Thick Description
West Bay Opera
San Francisco Lyric Opera
Berkeley Opera
Berkeley Opera
Oakland Lyric Opera
Redwood Symphony
Banff Centre for the Arts
San Francisco Opera
2012
2012
2011
2011
2011
2011
2010
2010
2010
2009
2009
2009
2009
2009
2008
2007
2007
2007
2007
2006
2006
2006
2006
2005
2005
2005
2005
2004
2004
2004
2004
2003
2003
2003
2003
2002
2001
2001
2000
2000
1999
Composer
Work
Company
Year
Mendelssohn
Gershwin
Various
Orff
Bernstein
Rutter
Orff
Mozart
Various
Bach
Psalm 42
Porgy and Bess concert version
Songs and Spirituals of Americas
Carmina Burana
Bernstein Pops Tribute
Requiem
Carmina Burana
Requiem
Broadway Concert
Weihnachts-Oratorium
Jugendsinfonieorchester Leipzig
Jugendsinfonieorchester Leipzig
Red Door Studio, Amsterdam
Santa Clara Chorale & Orchestra
Mendocino Music Festival
UC Davis Chorus and Orchestra
Mendocino Music Festival
San Fran./Livermore Chorales
Masterworks Chorale
San Francisco Choral Society
2012
2012
2012
2012
2011
2010
2010
2010
2010
2009
Bach
Magnificat
San Francisco Choral Society
2009
Haydn
Pergolesi
Orff
Webber
Various
Orff
Various
G. Aquilanti
Orff
Mozart
Monteverdi
Handel
Fauré
Bach
Monteverdi
Mozart
Haydn
Mahler
Mass in B♭
Magnificat
Carmina Burana
Requiem
Christmas Concerts
Carmina Burana
Benefit Concert w/Ms. von Stade
La Povertà
Carmina Burana
Grand Mass in C minor
Vespro della Beata Virgine
Messiah
Requiem
Non sa che sia dolore
Lamento della ninfa
Exsultate, Jubilate
Lord Nelson Mass
Symphony No. 4
Peninsula Cantare
Peninsula Cantare
San Francisco Concert Chorale
Diablo Valley Chorale
The Ritz-Carlton, Osaka
Masterworks Chorale
Oakland City Center
Stanford University
UC Davis Chorus & Orchestra
San Francisco Choral Society
San Francisco Choral Society
American Bach Soloists
Masterworks Chorale
American Bach Soloists
Mark Morris Dance Group
Santa Clara Chorale & Orchestra
Santa Clara Chorale & Orchestra
Redwood Symphony
2009
2009
2008
2008
‘07,08,11
2007
2007
2007
2006
2006
2006
2005
2005
2004
2004
2003
2003
2000
UPCOMING ENGAGEMENTS
Various
Various
Various
Bach
Handel
Songs and Spirituals of Americas
Songs and Spirituals of Americas
Afternoon of Opera and Song
All Bach Chamber Concert
Messiah
Blue Building Salon, NY
2012
Museum of the African Diaspora 2012
Sunday Afternoons at CBS
2013
Avedis Chamber Music Series
2013
Santa Clara Chorale
2013
Shawnette Sulker
Selected Reviews
Adele – Die Fledermaus
“Shawnette Sulker stole the show as Adela, displaying a bright,
superbly controlled soprano with perfectly placed coloratura…”
- Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle
“…Shawnette Sulker gave with her feather-light soprano an excellent
interpretation of Adele. Sharp and nimble."
- Jordi Kooiman, Placer de l’Opera
“Shawnette Sulker tossed off Adele’s athletic vocal writing with flowing
ease…[S]he was adorable and engaging.”
- Michael Zwiebach, San Francisco Classical Voice
“…the audience is treated to the first dazzling solo by Shawnette Sulker, whose light and delicate
soprano soars like a lark and seems aptly suited to her maid character, Adele.”
- Richard Bammer, The Reporter
Susanna – Le nozze di Figaro
“Shawnette Sulker’s bright-voiced Susanna made its
mark through her winning stage presence.”
- Jason Serinus, Opera News
“Shawnette Sulker is an appealing, strong-voiced
Susanna, saucy in her spoken scenes and sweetsounding in her Act IV ‘Deh vieni, non tardar.’”
- Georgia Rowe, Contra Costa Times
Rosabella – The Most Happy Fella
“Shawnette Sulker's Rosabella was extremely moving, her voice
soaring in key moments of passion.”
- George Heymont, The Huffington Post
“… [Shawnette Sulker] exuded such natural warmth and charm as
Rosabella that it was easy to understand why Tony instantly fell in
love with her. Her final scenes were deeply touching.”
- Jason Serinus, Opera News
“…Shawnette Sulker is polished and poised as Rosabella, the object of Tony’s affection… the sound is
delightful, as in Sulker’s imploring ‘Aren’t You Glad?’ ”
- Elizabeth Warnimont, The Benicia Herald
Belinda – Dido and Aeneas
“Bidding her to ‘shake the cloud from off your brow,’ Belinda
was sung by Shawnette Sulker with a high and nimble
soprano… I heard Sulker star as Olympia in Tales of
Hoffmann with San Francisco Lyric Opera (2007), and her
high clarity and range — she played all four women
protagonists—was formidable.”
- Adam Broner, Repeat Performances
“I can’t leave the discussion of Dido without mentioning
soprano Shawnette Sulker who played the role of Belinda,
Queen Dido’s confidante. She filled her major singing role
in Act I with her lovely voice. I still remember her charming performance here in Orfeo ed Euridice in 2009.
- Philip G. Hodge, LA Splash Magazine
Zerlina – Don Giovanni
“Shawnette Sulker, as Zerlina, another potential Don conquest, is the right
combination of coquettish and steadfast, with a sweet soprano voice.”
- Harriet Howard Heithaus, Naples Daily News
Olympia – Les Contes d’Hoffmann
“Sulker’s Olympia was a firework of coloratura, with amazing staccato notes, and echo
imitations that made one look for a double in the wings.”
- Janos Gereben, The Examiner
The Witch – The Witch of Endor (Purcell pastiche)
“Shawnette Sulker lent her bright, beautifully tuned soprano to the role of the witch…”
- Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle
“Shawnette Sulker starred as the Witch, singing her roulades with a bright, flexible lyric soprano and
portraying the part with calm nobility.”
- Lisa Hirsch, San Francisco Classical Voice
Amore – Orfeo ed Euridice
“Soprano Shawnette Sulker sparkled in her scenes as Amore.”
- Georgia Rowe, San Francisco Classical Voice
Corina – Firebird Motel (World Premier)
“Sulker is a standout, her expressive eyes radiating fear, defiance and hopelessness as she sings with
heartbreaking poignancy in a crystalline soprano.”
- Robert Hurwitt, San Francisco Chronicle
Oscar – Un ballo in maschera
“Shawnette Sulker was clearly the audience favorite as Riccardo’s impudent page Oscar. Her effortless high
soprano bell-tones and impish dramaticism are a delight.”
- Keith Kreitman, San Mateo County Times
Despina – Così fan tutte
“Shawnette Sulker’s Despina was infectious, commanding the stage with spontaneous grace and a pure, belllike lyric soprano.”
- Ching Chang, San Francisco Classical Voice
In Concert
“If it is possible for there to be a show-stopper in a chorale concert, it was Sulker.
After some impressive dramatic singing in the conventional soprano range in
the “Requiem,” she surprised with a comedic flight of fancy into the vocal
stratosphere in the “Glitter and Be Gay.” This native of Guyana held the
audience breathless. I don’t believe I have ever heard a more beautiful, more
controlled or better-placed coloratura voice. She’s a real, and confident,
charmer.”
- Keith Kreitman, Oakland Tribune
“The icing on the cake was the vocal soloists… Also the soprano soloist in
Mendelssohn’s cantata, Sulker sang with enchanting vocal splendor and
excellent comprehension, and she made a gorgeous and touching Bess. ”
- Birgit Hendrich, Leipziger Volkszeitung