I am a librettist and poet with a Bachelor of Music (voice) from the University of British Columbia. My training as a singer (mezzo) contributes to my work as a librettist as I apply my understanding of vocal production, melodic line, and the sonorities of language, especially of the vowel to all of my work. This training extends to my understanding of form, orchestration, and composition, making me able to collaborate with composers at a high level of technicality.

I am particularly interested in the use of multiple languages in my work, notably, the use of English, French, Latin, and Pashtun in composer Jeffrey Ryan and my Afghanistan: Requiem for a Generation (2012, Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra commission), a work based on my experience as a Canadian War Artist (Afghanistan). My most recent project with composers Neil Weisensel and Alex Kusturok, the opera Li Keur: Riel's Heart of the North (2022/23 premiere), is written in six languages, three of which are Indigenous (Anishinaabemowen, French-Michif, 'Heritage'-Michif). I am Métis, of the Gaudry/Fayant families from the heart of the continent.

Recently, I was awarded a BC Arts Council Award to begin to explore the nuances and beauty of yet another language which I wish to bring to the big stage in oratorio, opera form, or something entirely new. This is very much at the exploratory stage and I have yet to begin talks with composers.

Here is what the singers, a composer, and the reviewers have to say about my work:

Soprano, Measha Breuggergosman:

I knew that I had been asked to take part in something ground-breaking and moving the minute I started studying the score and text for Afghanistan:Requiem for a Generation. The specificity and visceral presence of the text coupled with the depth and precision of the orchestration a soundscape that captivated both performer and listener alike ...

Baritone, James Westman:

[The] passionate, truthful words of Suzanne Steele's Heart of the North ... The ebb and flow of her libretto perfectly integrated the human soul to impressionistic imagery. I would sing her poetry any day and twice on Sundays.

Composer, Tarek O'Regan:

I am knocked out by your libretto [Afghanistan: Requiem for a Generation] — the resonances and juxtapositions, throughout — a dream for any composer to work with.

Reviewer, Stephan Bonfeld (Calgary Herald, 2012):

Steele's words ... ranging from the sublime to the disturbing, and always maintaining an   intrinsic sense of poetic meter [...] In turn, [Jeff] Ryan breathed a natural flexibility and elasticity into the poetic phrases, successfully aggregating them into a well-paced but coherent, large-scale structure. The words always expressed the soldiers' characters in very specific, but also richly symbolic terms, set in beautifully sonorous narrative poetry, but always in a freely cast dramatic shape.

Reviewer, Kenneth Delong (Calgary Herald, 2017):

In Steele's fine poetry, mixing words of the Latin Mass with powerful imagistic writing    addressing the pathos of war, and in Ryan's music, this oratorio is certainly one of the most important extended Canadian choral works from this century.

Reviewer, Jeff Mitchell (Toronto Concert Reviews, 2017):

            [Steele's'] vivid and graphic poetry, set the stage for the dramatic and visceral music composed by Ryan.

Reviewer, John Terrauds (Toronto Star, 2017):

Concise, imagistic poetry ... Ryan and Steel's work [...] compares well to Britten's War Requiem, which is a huge compliment. It beautifully captures the many layers of tension present in a single conflict, and the many aspects of suffering and relief.