American pianist and vocal coach, Douglas Sumi (he/him), is a frequent collaborator with many of  today’s artists and opera theaters. He is a versatile artist, comfortable in the capacities of  pianist, coach, and conductor, with a recognized commitment to song and opera. He has  assisted conductors such as James Conlon, Patrick Summers, Michele Mariotti, and  Emmanuel Villaume. He has collaborated with celebrated artists such as Renée Fleming,  Plácido Domingo, Itzhak Perlamn, Carol Vaness, Sir Thomas Allen, Vladimir Chernov, Linda  Watson, Charles Castronovo, Alek Shrader, Daniela Mack, Ailyn Pérez, Jamie Barton, Ryan  McKinny, Angel Blue, Janai Brugger, and members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los  Angeles Opera Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, and Boston Symphony Orchestra. He  collaborated with Renée Fleming in recital, after their work together in A Streetcar Named  Desire. He has performed throughout Europe and North America, including the Kennedy  Center for the Arts. 

Sumi served for many seasons on music staff at Los Angeles Opera and is an alumnus of  their young artist program. For over two decades, he has played and coached countless  opera productions in the U.S. and abroad, of a diverse range of repertoire. In 2023, he joined the music staff of Opera Theatre of St. Louis, became the official pianist for the  Metropolitan Opera’s Laffont Competition: Boston District and New England Region, and  made his debut as a composer with Songs from Camp, art songs inspired by his family’s  experience in the WWII Japanese American incarceration camps. He has worked for the  Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, New Orleans Opera, Bard  SummerScape, Wolf Trap Opera Company, Indianapolis Opera, Ash Lawn Opera Festival,  American Opera Projects, Pacific Opera Projects, and his alma mater, the Manhattan  School of Music, as Assistant Coach to English diction expert, Kathryn LaBouff. In Russia,  he has given master classes at the St. Petersburg Conservatory and Galina Vishnevskaya’s  Opera Center. In Mexico, he premiered La Paloma y el Ruiseñor at the Cultural Festival of  Mazatlán. He has led singers to top prizes of premiere competitions including Plácido  Domingo’s Operalia, the Metropolitan National Council Auditions, BBC Cardiff Singer of the  World, Neue Stimmen, Licia Albanese Competition, Gerda Lissner Competition, Giulio Gari  Competition, Palm Springs Opera Guild Competition, the Dallas Opera Guild Competition, and the Richard Tucker Foundation. 

As a piano teacher himself, he has guided students of collaborative piano to earn  acceptance into programs at the Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, Mannes  College of Music and New England Conservatory. While residing in Los Angeles, he was on  faculty at UCLA’s Herb Alpert School of Music, fastidiously guiding students through  innovative recitals, original works, and opera productions, and still maintains a vibrant  private teaching studio in southern California. He has curated countless recitals with many  singers over the years, promoting the relevancy of art song literature. In addition to  coaching singers at Boston University’s School of Music, he previously served as Chair of  Voice, and continues to teach courses in song literature, lyric diction, and opera for  pianists.