Ministry of Music Program Director

Program Director,Ministry of Music

Mary Sue Hyatt, mezzo soprano, brings to the concert stage an extensive American and European singing career, having sung in major US cities such as New York, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Washington D.C., Phoenix, and European cities such as London, Belfast, Munich, Lucerne, Rome, Venice, Paris, Florence and Thessaloniki. The mezzo soprano has performed as soloist and presented vocal master classes in Shanghai, Beijing and Tianjin, China’s leading conservatories, and presented vocal workshops in Guadalajara, Mexico; Thessaloniki, Greece; Toronto, Canada; and in Rome and Florence, Italy.

Ms. Hyatt is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music where she had formal training under Max Rudolf, Dino Yannopoulos, Giulio Gari, Richard Lewis, Franz Rupp, Thomas Grubb, Vladimir Sokoloff and Maria Callas. Mary Sue spent summers studying opera with her mentor Lorenzo Malfatti, opera coaches Gianfranco Cosmi, Anthony Saunders, Martin Penny and leading basso of the Metropolitan Opera, Italo Tajo, in the Opera Barga program in Barga, Italy. She also participated in the Accademia Vocale in Lucca, Italy. In later years she had the opportunity to study and work with the legendary mezzo soprano Fedora Barbieri in Florence.

Ms. Hyatt held the rank of Professor of Voice at Kent State University and served her last two years as Interim Director of the Hugh A. Glauser School of Music. She was the co-director and founder of the “Kent in Florence Music Program” and was recognized for her “outstanding contributions to international culture” by receiving the Kent State University International Award in the field of International Communication and Cross-Cultural achievements for teaching and performing. Professor Hyatt was recognized by Seton Hill University and received The Distinguished Alumna Leadership Award for 2007. In 2005, in recognition of her outstanding leadership, Kent State University bestowed on Professor Hyatt the title: Faculty Emerita.

In the course of her career, the mezzo has performed in over twenty operas including Madame Butterfly, Don Giovanni, Carmen, Dido and Aeneas, Hansel and Gretel, and Cavalleria Rusticana. Her CD releases include: Song upon Song (TimeGrabber, 1997), Dvořák duets and songs; an American premier of Vivaldi’s La Fida Ninfa,(Analog, Café Studio, 2000) and A Musical Painting Comes to Life (Crystal CD841, 2001), where the mezzo soprano is a featured soloist.

Ms. Hyatt currently serves as a member of the Metropolitan Opera Council Auditions Board for the Western Region, NATS Special Programs Chair for the Cal-West Region, Board member of the Giulio Gari Foundation, program committee member of Musicfest and Board member of the Arts Council of the North Valley (AZ), and she is enjoying an increasingly active performing career.