Keith Chambers
Japanese-American light lyric soprano Arisa Kusumi has performed around the world, including in Europe, the US, Mexico, and Japan. An internationally acclaimed opera singer, her career highlights include hundreds of opera performances at such companies as the San Francisco Opera Center, the Chemnitz Opera, Halle Opera, and Osnabrück Opera of Germany, Vadstena Akademien in Sweden, the Xalapa Symphony Orchestra in Mexico, Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, and as the first female Mikado in Central Florida Vocal Arts’ production of The Mikado. As an award winning concert and recital singer, she has appeared at Marlboro Music Festival, the Verbier Festival in Switzerland, Villecroze Festival of France, the Austrian Embassy in Washington DC, Bach Festival Society of Winter Park, Mozart Society of Atlanta, and the Robert Schumann Philharmonic in Germany among others. She was a prizewinner at the International Robert Schumann Lied Competition and Verbier Festival, as well as being a finalist in the Joy in Singing Competition. A magna cum laude graduate of the Eastman School of Music, she received further training at the Bavarian State Opera Münchener Singschul’, Ravinia Festival Steans Institute, and extensive mentorship from such art song masters as Dalton Baldwin, Thomas Quasthoff, and Elly Ameling, among others. She studied voice with Carol Webber, Benita Valente, and Marni Nixon. As a teacher, Ms. Kusumi has given masterclasses at University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, University of South Florida, and Bob Jones University. She also served many years on the voice faculty at Rollins College and is regularly invited to judge international voice competitions. In the summer of 2018, she made her directorial debut in a world premiere of the opera Bridesmaids by Scott Bradley Joiner at the Vienna Summer Music Festival. She currently teaches from her private voice studio in Orlando, continues to perform in singing, as well as in TV commercial and print as an actress and model, and serves as the Founder, Executive and Artistic Director of the Howey Mansion Music Series. Her biggest accomplishment is balancing work with a fulfilling personal life as wife, mother to two children and two fur children, and practicing yoga and meditation, in addition to cooking and writing a food blog.