Dr. Susan Mohini Kane, a renowned university educator and musical performer, will be the next speaker at the Catawba College Community Forum, at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 27, in Tom Smith Auditorium. Kane will be discussing the intricacies of navigating a successful career path in the early decades of the twenty-first century. Her talk which is free and open to the public will be entitled, “Making the Leap from the University into the World in the 21st Century.”
“We are extremely excited to have Susan visiting our campus and community. We think that she has a lot to say for folks of all ages and backgrounds, given the occupational uncertainty of the times,” announced Dr. Gary Freeze, community forum coordinator and a professor of history at Catawba College. “Her talk should be particularly emboldening for those aspiring to enter the Mozartian jungle of contemporary digitaldom.”
The forum talk will be based upon Kane’s new book, “The 21st Century Singer, Making the Leap from the University into the World.” It has been called “a must-read for any emerging singer” by iCadenza Artists.
“Kane’s thoughtful yet disciplined approach encourages the kind of self-reflection and creativity that, at the very least, can lend direction and big-picture perspective to career goals while also rekindling a love of singing,” said Brian Manternach in Classical Singer Magazine in 2015.
Kane has enjoyed a versatile career as an established oratorio and symphonic artist as well as an opera and concert singer. Kane’s "crystal-clear voice and impeccable technique” has kept her performing professionally for over two decades with regional symphonies and opera companies in the Midwest and in California. Besides the traditional classical genres, Kane specializes in premiering new music and in performing a new genre that includes fusions of opera, art song, musical theatre, and what she has coined “classical cabaret.”
In the research for her recent book, she “encountered many singers who have found nontraditional ways to make a living from their art. The discovery transformed her from a pessimist to an optimist about the value of a degree in vocal performance,” noted Debra Grashner in the November 2015 Journal of Singing.
Kane is a Faculty Fellow for the Public Good at California State University, Los Angeles for research on Music and Civic Engagement, and will be one of two lead faculty for the CSU Summer Arts-Romantic Lied in Germany for 2018, a member of the faculty at Angels Vocal Art Summer Opera Intensive, a guest faculty member at the Vancouver International Song Institute for 2016, and a frequently invited guest artist and master teacher at universities nationwide.
She holds both a Doctor of Musical Arts degree and a Master of Music degree from The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
She will also be holding master classes for students in music and theatre while being a scholar in residence on Catawba College’s campus. For more information on the master classes, call Dr. Freeze at (704) 754-3331.
