Meet Susan
I grew up making music with my family in brass bands, where the band wasn’t necessarily the focus of the event. Often the band was part of a larger experience, we were the soundtrack to important moments in peoples lives like family picnics in the park, citizenship ceremonies for new Australians or Christmas Carols in aged care homes.
Those experiences shaped my philosophy that music is service.
SO?
I loved making music so much that I went off to college to study the French Horn, it wasn’t a great experience so after graduation I…
Became an event manager for the Australian Rock Eisteddfod, a glitter filled, lyra clad cultural phenomenon. It was an immensely popular live performing arts event for schools with over 1 million students participating throughout its 30-year history
Moved to England to manage the Rock Eisteddfod there and launch it in Northern Ireland
Here’s where it really gets mind boggling. I then built from the ground up, an ERP technology consulting practice and built it to 30 staff and a $5M turnover in just a few years. With my business partner, we sold it to a company listed on the London Stock Exchange.
SO THEN WHAT?
I hadn’t played the French Horn for 16 years, and I began to wonder if maybe the system and the situation might have been the issue back in the day. I started playing again and figured that a Master of Music Performance degree might be an interesting experience. BOY WAS IT EVER. Pretty much by Day 2 of that degree I could see that the systems and processes were problematic.
WHAT NOW?
I’m known for supporting individuals and organisations to rethink what they’re doing, why they’re doing it and how they’re going to do it. I’m playing better than ever and work as a professional freelancer, organise and play with Crosswinds Ensemble and take every opportunity to make music with my sons.
1985
2017
2024
Crosswinds Ensemble Credit Michael Bennett
Hear my twisty turny career journey on these podcasts.
THESE KIND HUMANS ASKED GOOD QUESTIONS ON:
✦ The Entrepreneurial Musician
✦ Herstory
✦ iCadenza “Wow, you really hit a home run with me on this podcast. So many things I've pondered over the years were covered in this interview. Susan's comments were so thoughtful and inspiring. Jennifer's questions were so probing and spot on, in my opinion her best interview to date.”
✦ Creative Piano Teaching “Wow, this interview was fantastic! I totally came from the school of “if you don’t make it as an orchestral player you’ve kind of failed”. As Susan says this is so unrealistic! Other points about having a grad degree in performance but not being able to play something for family off the top of your head (me!me!) and of course having it drilled into you to follow the dots TO THE LETTER OTHERWISE YOU HAVE FAILED. I loved her stance on transferable skills and loved the point about music training the mind. Great podcast!!”
Giving back
My family are life long volunteers and contributors. My parents were committee members and office bearers in organisations in brass banding, motor racing and community service, and my Grandmother and Aunt both received the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for services to music.
Currently I’m contributing in these ways:
✦ Mentor for the 30 UNDER 30 Mentoring Program from Communicating the Arts
✦ Capstone Project Mentor for the Global Leaders Institute
✦ Committee Member on the International Initiatives Committee for the College Music Society
The most important contribution I can make is as a Facilitator and Trainer for Left, Write, Hook. The program is a survivor led program that empowers adult survivors of child sexual abuse and trauma to reclaim their bodies and rewrite their stories. I’m a survivor of abuse by a music educator and this program saved my mind and body.