Ms. Simpson-Sugar first became interested in opera when she experienced a performance by visiting opera singers through the Artists in School’s Program in Seldovia, Alaska.  During high school at Kenai Central, Ms. Simpson-Sugar studied voice with Renee Henderson and was selected for the Alaska State Honor Choir.  During her senior year, she competed in a juried soloist competition at the Alaska High School Music Festival and was one of two vocalists chosen to perform during the final gala event of the festival.  She performed “Rejoice Greatly, Oh Daughter of Zion” from Handel’s Messiah for an audience that filled UAF’s gymnasium, and although it was by far one of the most nervous moments of her life, this piece continues to be one of her favorites to perform.   Ms. Simpson-Sugar was a vocal performance at Pacific University and Portland State University and studied voice with Charles Trombley.  By request of the music faculty, she began performing solo recitals as a freshman vocal performance major. Ms. Simpson-Sugar has performed in many choirs, choral ensemble events as a soprano soloist, musicals, opera scene showcases, opera choruses, community fundraising events and featured in a joint story by the NBC Alaska Statewide News and Bethel’s KYUK-PBS station titled “The Opera Singer in the Bush” as she was competing in the Metropolitan Opera Auditions for Alaska.  Leading roles prior to moving to Juneau include The Merry Widow, What Men Live By, and Amahl and the Night Visitors.  Juneau roles include Così fan tutte (Juneau Lyric Opera), Mozart Reimagined (Opera to Go), Don Giovanni (Opera to Go), The Arctic Magic Flute (Opera to Go).  Leading roles in musicals include Nunsense, Nunsense II, The King and I and Working (Perseverance Theater).  Ms. Simpson-Sugar has most recently studied voice with Dr. John d’Armand.  She and her husband Paul Sugar have made Juneau their home since 2001.