Suzanna Guzmán, mezzo-soprano, is a native of Pasadena. 2010 marked the 25th anniversary of her operatic career that began in 1985 with the San Diego Opera. A part of the original Associate Artists of Los Angeles Opera, she has performed with them as principal artist in forty main stage productions alongside such luminaries as Placido Domingo, John Schlesinger, Marilyn Horne, James Conlon, Jonathan Miller, John Copley, Gerghiev, and Rostropovich. Ms. Guzmán has sung on concert, recital and opera stages here and abroad with the Metropolitan Opera, Washington National Opera, Dallas Opera, San Diego Opera, Kennedy Center, Houston Grand Opera, and Carnegie Hall. TIME magazine called her a "fire eating singing actress" for her portrayal of the title role in Bizet's Carmen with the Houston Opera, which came to be her signature role. Critics praised her performance of Mahler's Second Symphony with the New Florida West Symphony: "Guzman's voice is a balm for the earth's ills." Ms. Guzmán is soloist on many celebrated recordings including Florencia en el Amazonas, Goya, and La Traviata. She was the lead soloist on the 2006 Grammy and Latin Grammy nominated CD: Carlos Chávez: Volume III with the Southwest Chamber Music and Mexico's Tambuco Percussion Ensemble.

Well-known for her commitment to arts education, Ms. Guzmán continues to perform her award winning, one-woman show, DON'T BE AFRAID: IT'S JUST OPERA! To date, it has played to over 215,000 inner-city children across the nation. A familiar voice to L.A. audiences, she hosted and produced the radio show Sunday Evening Opera for over three seasons and L.A.'s Opera Notes for almost nine. Her many honors include People Magazine en Español Outstanding Latinos in Music, the California Woman's Museum exhibit Latinas: the Spirit of California, Miller Brewing Company's Retrato de Exito/ Portrait of Success, the Plácido Domingo Award for Arts and Service. In 2010, she was honored with her Ph.D. in Music from Occidental College.

Ms. Guzman is an active member of the Music Center Education Division Artists' roster, and serves on the USC Thornton School of Music Board of Councilors and on UCLA's Design for Sharing. She is Director in the Principal's Office of Community Engagement for the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts. Future roles include Salome and Barber of Seville with San Diego Opera, the Mother in Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors, mezzo soloist in El Sombrero de Tres Picos, and the 10th Anniversary performance of Dios Inantzin: La Virgen de Tepeyac with Latino Theatre Company. Ms. Guzman has been named the 2011 Mexican American Opportunity Foundations National Woman of the Year in a ceremony in Los Angeles and is the proud mother of a University of Michigan undergraduate.