Recently, Suzanne Balaes performed Violetta in La Traviata with Sarasota Opera. New York City Opera performances include Hansel and Gretel, Carmen, and The Magic Flute.   Balaes has performed with Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Mobile Opera, Boston Lyric opera, Central City Opera and many more. She has appeared as Marguerite in Faust, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Musetta in La Bohème, and the title role in Floyd’s Susannah and many others.   Balaes earned a Master of Music from The New England Conservatory. A recipient of the Kern Grant from Sarasota Opera, she also received the Richard F. Gold Career Grant, the McGlone Award for Outstanding Apprentice from Central City Opera and the Hyndman Memorial Award given by Opera Theatre of St. Louis.   Some solo concert appearances include, Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915, Britten’s Les Illuminations, and Mendelssohn’s Elijah.   Balaes recently premiered Mrs. Satan by American composer Victoria Bond and was heard as Alice in Sarasota Opera’s Falstaff.