LA Opera’s Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program will have a new shining Artistic Advisor, internationally renowned mezzo-soprano Susan Graham.

Graham will be in residence for 10 full weeks, and possibly longer, providing leadership counseling and guidance for the younger rising stars in the LA Opera. She will specifically help out with their skills, methodologies and philosophy departments of having a long-lasting career.

At her position, she will help “create complete artists” outside of just the basic technical skills and help these younger artists perform in more productions in the LA Opera and beyond it.

The mezzo is coming off of a run of “Dead Man Walking” at the Washington National Opera, an opera that she had resisted returning to. She is slated for a run of Die Fledermaus at the Santa Fe Opera this summer before returning to the Metropolitan Opera in the winter for “The Merry Widow.”

This trend of artists taking on heavier leadership roles is not new, especially in the LA opera house, after Matthew Aucoin was appointed composer-conductor just recently. Graham has an astonishing career that’s spanned over several years.

In their tenth season, the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program has grown its reputation into one of the best places to start as an aspiring Opera artist.