New Book Release!June 2010
New Release! My new flute collection ‘Voices from the Earth‘ – Seven evocative pieces for solo flute that offer a fresh and unique sound experience. Look for sound and score samples on the Compositions Solo Instrumental page.
MiscellaneousMay 2010
Young Isabel Maddocks was awarded the trophy for best performance of one of my Compositions for the NYCO Music Festival. Her she is receiving her trophy at the gala recital!
ReviewSpring Issue 2010
My Piano Poem ‘Lavender Dreams’ was reviewed in the Spring edition of the Nova Scotia RMT’s Arabesque publication! See pg 8.
“Lavender Dreams is an easy and flowing piece that will provide your students with a simple, yet enjoyable experience, allowing them to expand their abilities in chord arpeggiation, and more importantly, in voicing. Susan has done a wonderful job at keeping it simple, but captivating the performer and audience in what is a beautiful, graceful and emotional piece of music.”
News!April 2010
I have been chosen as the featured Composer for Junior Piano Classes for the NYCO Music Festival in Toronto. Larisa Kuzmenko is the featured Composer for the Senior Piano Classes. The Music Festival takes place in late April, 2010.
PerformanceMarch 2010
Toronto Flautist Christine Mourre performed five pieces for flute from my ‘Voices from the Earth‘ collection for solo flute. This was a world premier for these pieces!
PerformanceOct 2009
And afternoon of presenting 21st Century Music! At The Music Gallery in downtown Toronto eight composers gathered to present their works to an appreciative audience. A great variety of styles was heard. Red Leafers Martha Hill Duncan and Beverly Porter were there as well as Composers Andrew Ager, Barry Peters, Maria Molinari, Beverly Lewis, Maxine Willan and we also heard works by Rebekah Maxner and Jack Behrens. I had my little students present some of my works and then performed a couple of pieces myself. A wonderful afternoon of music making!
ReviewWinter Issue 2009
The ORMTA Notes magazine published a review of my ‘Little Hands, Big Pieces‘ book!
“The difficulty level of these works range from Grades 1 to 4. As the title suggests, these pieces have great potential for teaching triads in solid, broken and chord form. There are fifteen pieces, mostly one page in length. There is a good mixture of time signature here including one in 8/4. Interesting titles match how the pieces should sound an be played. My personal favorite, ‘Big Foot’ has solid triads played in the lower register. The chords occasionally come in on the 1/2 count giving Big Foot a skip to his steps. There is also a great use of black keys in a piece called ‘Rock Climbing’ as the solid triads ascend chromatically. A short description gives insight into how each piece should be played. I think students will really enjoy learning how to play triads in this format!”
Syllabi and PublishingOct 2009
Piano solos ‘Twinkle, Twinkle’, ‘Castles’ and piano trio ‘Three to Tango’ have been selected for the ACNMP Contemporary Showcase Syllabus
On the Road
A wonderful time was spent in in Sackville, New Brunswick. I’m here with Long & McQuade’s Bob Kohl, Composer Roberta Stephen and fellow Red Leaf composer Martha Hill Duncan. We presented a session at the conference entitled ‘Fresh and Imaginative Repertoire Designed to Teach, Motivate and Inspire!
On the RoadJuly 2009
I’m gave a presentation with colleagues Beverly Porter and Martha Hill Duncan from the Red Leaf Pianoworks Collective. We performed piano music for the delegates of the Suzuki Summer Institute at Queen’s University, Kingston.
News!Spring Festival 2009
The Toronto Academy of Music has chosen ‘Fireman’ from ‘Let’s Pretend‘ as the Test piece for the Canadian Composer Class in their June Festival.
On the RoadOct 2008
I presented compositions from ‘Piano Mime‘, ‘Let’s Pretend‘ and ‘Little Hands, Big Pieces‘ to the Kanata Chapter of MYC (Music For Young Children) along with fellow Red Leafer Martha Hill Duncan.