From time to time we come in contact with the very gifted and realize these people are capable of great things. This was the case for me when I first met and worked with Susan Rider. Susan comes from a very tallented family and her father and I had many years of Dixieland playing together while I was living in Cedar Falls, Iowa where I taught for thirty years. Susan’s father, Dr. Paul Rider is a very talented muti-instrumentalist (trumpet, trombone, piano, double bass, tuba, just to name a few).Susan studied with me in her pre-college days and working with her was a delightful privilege for she was the kind of student that you always hoped to get. Even in her early years she had a very mature outlooks as to what she wanted in her future. Her lessons were always prepared and I never remember anything but a warm and caring smile on her face. In the next post, I will share with you her success and accomplishments with hopes that her hard work and talent might be helpful to other aspiring young musicians. In our next post, Susan will share her typical schedule and other related information with us.
It is my pleasure at this time to introduce to you my good friend Susan Rider.
Susan Rider,originally from Cedar Falls, Iowa, began playing the trumpet at the age of ten. She attended Malcolm Price Laboratory School, and graduated from Northern University High School in 1985. Susan went on to complete her Bachelor of Music in trumpet performance from the University of Northern Iowa (1989), where she studied with Keith Johnson and Randy Grabowski. During this time, she was a member of the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony, Chamber Orchestra of Iowa, UNI Wind Symphony, and Carillon Brass Quintet. Susan earned her Master of Music in trumpet performance (1991) and Doctor of Music in brass pedagogy and literature (2000) from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington. There, she studied trumpet under the tutelage of Charles Gorham and Edmund Cord. While living in Indiana, Susan performed as a member of the Owensboro Symphony, Columbus Indiana Philharmonic, Camerata Orchestra, and Evansville Philharmonic. Additionally, she performed with Indiana University’s Philharmonic Orchestra and Wind Ensemble, and served as an Associate Instructor for both the Brass and Music Education Departments. She also taught trumpet as an adjunct at Purdue University.
In our next post we will share some insight into what she is doing currently in Washington performing in “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band.
