Kallisti is a classical vocal ensemble co-founded in 2009 by soprano Susan Narucki, Professor of Music at UC San Diego. Ms. Narucki has appeared with numerous orchestras including the Cleveland Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony (both in San Francisco and at Carnegie Hall) Residentie Orchestra of the Hague, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Concentus Musicus Wien, and New World Symphony, with conductors such as Pierre Boulez, Michael Tilson Thomas, Herbert Blomstedt, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Vladimir Ashkenazy, and Oliver Knussen.
The soprano has been a featured soloist with contemporary music ensembles across the globe, including the Asko/Schoenberg, London Sinfonietta, Ensemble Modern, Nieuw Ensemble, ELISION, SMCQ, Remix, ICE, San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, Speculum Musicae, NYNME and Collage.
Her longtime interest in bringing modern music to audiences outside the concert hall was brought to life in Chance Encounter which she co-conceived with composer Lisa Bielawa and which received a grant from Creative Capital Foundation. Narucki and The Knights presented the world premiere of the work, to be performed in public spaces, in 2007, with subsequent performances at the Whitney Museum of Art.
Narucki earned both Grammy and Cannes awards (music of George Crumb) and a Grammy nomination (Best Classical Vocal Performance) for Elliott Carter’s Tempo e Tempi, all on Bridge Records. The soprano's extensive discography includes operas of Andreissen on Nonesuch, music of Mario Davidovsky on Bridge and Arabesque and song cycles of Aaron Jay Kernis on Koch. Her performance of Jacob Druckman’s Salome with the Aspen Festival Orchestra was included in a two-CD set commemorating the Festival’s 50th Anniversary Ms. Narucki’s most recent release, The Light that Is Felt: Songs of Charles Ives, with pianist Donald Berman on New World Records, was an Editor’s Choice of BBC Music Magazine.