About Susan

I was born and raised in the musically rich environment of the suburbs of Minneapolis, Minnesota, playing the clarinet in the symphonic orchestra, the concert and marching bands throughout high school. I started formal piano lessons in the 10th grade and went on to receive a BA in Music, Piano Performance from the University of Minnesota. In 1981, I was accepted as a piano student of Karl Ulrich Schnabel and moved to New York City to continue my studies.

Early in college, I discovered the joy and rewards of teaching while working as a teacher’s aide in an elementary school. A passion was born and I began teaching piano privately in 1976. Following that passion, I completed a MA in Education with a Teaching Credential, and a Masters of Education degree in Curriculum Design from Teachers College, Columbia University. I taught music theory, history and orchestra at the LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts in NYC, and then beginning strings and chorus in the elementary and middle schools of Stamford and Wilton, Connecticut.

I am an active member of the Santa Cruz County Branch of the Music Teachers Association of California. My students have participated in the The Carnegie Hall Royal Conservatory Achievement Program, the MTAC Certificate of Merit Program, and have won scholarships in the Talent Bank Awards Festival.

As a vocalist I have performed with Full Spectrum, Ariose and the Windham Singers. I also performed with the Cabrillo Music Festival in Leonard Bernstein’s “Mass” (1999), and Aaron Copland’s “Tenderland” (2000), and studyied voice with Kathleen Kasdorf. I have performed in many piano ensemble concerts including the local Celebrate Piano Ensemble concerts at UCSC.

In addition to teaching piano, I have been teaching music theory at Cabrillo College since 1999. I taught Musicianship 1M from 2104-2021 and have been teaching an online Fundamentals of Music (MUS 6) since 2007. This online music theory class introduces students to the notation of pitch and rhythm, the construction of scales, key signatures, intervals, and chords. Students who successfully complete this class are able to begin or continue their musical studies on different instruments.