Internationally acclaimed light lyric soprano, Arisa Kusumi Sullivan, has been praised for ​her "beauty, charming voice, and vivacious spirit" (The Free Times) and her ability to "touch ​the soul of the public…"(Chemnitzer Blick). A respected interpreter in the concert and ​chamber music repertoire, she has appeared at venues around the world including the ​Marlboro Music Festival Concert Series, the Atlanta Pro-Mozart Society, the Austrian ​Embassy in Washington D.C., the Austrian Cultural Forum of NYC, Chamber Music Quad ​Cities, the Nantucket Arts Council, the Robert Schumann Philharmonic of Germany, the ​University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill Concert Series, the Verbier Festival in Switzerland ​(competition winner’s concert), and numerous times at the Bach Festival Society of Winter ​Park.

Over the span of her career, Ms. Kusumi Sullivan has amassed a wide range of experience ​on the opera stage, having sung in over three hundred opera performances around the ​world, including in Europe, the US, and Mexico. She made her opera debut in a joint ​production at the Vadstena Akademien Opera (Sweden) and the Kammeroper Schloss ​Rheinsberg (Germany) Festivals. As a result of her European debut success, she was invited ​to numerous other opera houses including the Chemnitz Opera, Halle Opera and Osnabrück ​Opera of Germany, the San Francisco Opera Center as a Resident Artist, and the South ​Carolina Opera, and the Orlando Philharmonic. Her many roles include: Pamina, Susanna, ​Papagena, Anna (Die Lustigen Weiber, Norina, Gretel, Esmerelda (Die Verkaufte Braut), ​Waldvogel and the Shepherd in Tannhäuser. She has also been featured on radio and ​television broadcasts with Mitteldeutsche Rundfunk (MDR) and Inspiration Network (US), ​among others.

Her prizes include the Verbier Festival’s Prix de L’APCAV, the International Robert ​Schumann Lied Competition in Zwickau, Germany, as well as being a finalist in the Joy in ​Singing Competition of New York. She received her Bachelor of Music degree magna cum ​laude from the Eastman School of Music under the tutelage of Carol Webber and has also ​studied with Benita Valente and Marni Nixon. Further education includes studies at Ravinia ​Festival Steans Institute, the Münchener Singschul of the Bavarian State Opera, and Tito ​Capobianco’s Portland Opera Performing Institute. In the summer of 2018, she directed the ​world premiere of the opera “The Bridesmaids” by Scott Bradley Joiner at the Vienna ​Summer Music Festival’s Opera Institute, where she remains on the faculty. Ms. Kusumi ​Sullivan was an Adjunct Professor of Voice at Rollins College from 2012-2018 and has ​taught masterclasses and adjudicated juries at UNC-Chapel Hill, University of South ​Florida, Stetson University, and University of Central Florida. In 2018, she founded and ​served as the Executive and Artistic Director for the Howey Mansion Music Series, a 501(c)​(3) chamber music and jazz series in Central Florida. Further leadership roles included her ​terms as President of the Central Florida Chapter and Florida District Governor for National ​Association of Teachers of Singing. After moving to NC in 2023, she teaches from her ​private studio in North Carolina, continues to perform, both on stage and on TV, and ​recently appeared in an Emmy Award winning Covid-19 PSA.

Hillsborough Vocal

Academy

Hillsborough Vocal

Academy

pricing

Hillsborough Vocal

Academy

Both virtual and in person

• 30-minute lesson (for beginners)
• $48
  
• 50-minute lesson
• $75
  

Discounted rate for bundle

Both virtual and in person

Mindfulness and ACT performance ​coaching

• Private sessions
• 50 min for $75
  
• Group Workshops
  
• TBA
  

Hillsborough Vocal

Academy

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