“Blessed with a voice that is lovely and rich” (St. Louis Post Dispatch), soprano Leann Schuering was highly praised for her 2018 turn as leading lady Josephine in Union Avenue Opera’s H.M.S. Pinafore, a production that was “highlighted by [her] magnificent soprano” (Ladue News). Leann has charmed audiences in a wide range of roles from Don Giovanni’s Zerlina, in which she “sailed through a refined performance with ease” (Ann Arbor News), to Zerbinetta in Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos, in which she “consciously acted every single note she sang, finding some sort of meaning in each coloratura run written in the score. Her showstopper aria was astounding” ([art]seen).

 

Recent career highlights have included Vivaldi’s Gloria with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra conducted by Nicholas McGegan; Miss Wordsworth in Union Avenue Opera’s acclaimed 2017 production of Albert Herring starring Christine Brewer, for which Leann was applauded for her “splendid work” (KDHX); Händel’s Messiah with the Toledo Symphony Orchestra, the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra, and others; and two solo concerts at LOFTRecital in Minneapolis. Additional stage credits include The Queen of the Night (Die Zauberflöte), The Fairy Godmother (Cendrillon), Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), Yum-Yum (The Mikado), Monica (The Medium), and Laurey (Oklahoma!).

 

Leann is a two-time District Winner and Third Place Regional Winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. In 2013 she was awarded Third Place at the International Czech and Slovak Singing Competition in Montréal, and in 2014 she was an International Semi-Finalist at the Hans Gabor Belvedere Opera Competition in Düsseldorf.

 

In the realm of art song, Leann was awarded a Stern Fellowship to attend SongFest, the nation's premier art song festival. She has also attended the Art Song Festival at Baldwin Wallace as one of ten singer-pianist duos from across the country, and she continues to champion the performance of art song in her own community. Leann is a graduate of the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance. She resides in St. Louis with her husband and two children, where she is on faculty at Webster University’s School of Music.