Directing/ Project Managing
Suzannah has been a music director for variety shows, churches, choirs and other musical happenings. And she’s managed large scale community projects such as the da Vinci Days Labyrinth, the Season for Non-Violence concert series, visits by Tibetan Monks, and a Mindful Millenium celebration.
She’s even been a judge for a county “Teen Idol” contest and a songwriting contest sponsored by Gracewinds Music. Here’s a smattering below of some of her music directing and project history.
Music Directing, a sampling of
Majestic Theatre Yearly Follies
From 1994 to 2002, Suzannah was the music director for the annual fundraising variety shows at the Majestic theatre. Like a vaudeville show, they included all styles of music, skits, comedians and a bevy of other talents. Suz accompanied everyone from an Elvis impersonator to the Backstrain Boys (a geriatric version of the Back Street Boys), put together 50s medleys, wrote parodies, arranged vocal & band parts, and led the band (piano, guitar, bass, drums, woodwinds).
Unity Church of Corvallis
From 1998-2001, Suz provided music for Sunday services and special events with Soulstice, a 4-part harmony inspirational singing group. She also brought in a diverse group of guest musicians, from Zen Sakuhachi players, to marimba bands, Sitar players, blues guitarists and barbershop quartets. She had the pleasure of sitting in with New Age singer/ composer Anton Mizerak on his Sanskrit chant “Tara Mantra,” and with Neil Bjorklund of Flying Canoe on his masterful a capella piece “To The Water.” She also had fun directing the choir in such pieces as “Imagine” by Lennon, and in a wild version of “John the Revelator” ala The Blues Brothers.
Taize/ Labyrinth Walks
Taize singing is simple devotional chanting, based on an ecumenical tradition from France. A labyrinth is a single circuit winding path used for thousands of years by diverse cultures worldwide for walking meditation, personal reflection, or religious pilgrimage. Combining and updating these ideas, Suz (with Labyrinth facilitator Andy Andrews and Taize’ cantor Lyle Kesecker-Dotson) offers seasonal Taize labyrinth walks (sponsored by Unity of Corvallis) in an inclusive, contemporary style. Using chants from diverse cultures and traditions and original compositions, Suz invites labyrinth walkers to experience the powerful meditative experience of the labyrinth in whatever way best supports them. Participants feel safe and nurtured, bathed in sound and enveloped in welcoming music that is easy to sing along with or that can simply be enjoyed listening to while walking the labyrinth or sitting in silent reflection.
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Corvallis
Suz served as interim music director for the UUFC in 1995, and provided music for some of their yearly women’s retreat and special events. She created the famous “Face to Face Money Grubbing Pledge Drive Medley”, provided solo piano music for various events over the years, and led spontaneous singalongs at many gatherings for the community.
Special Projects
Da Vinci Days Labyrinth
A celebration of arts, science and technology at the yearly da Vinci Days festival in Corvallis draws over 12,000 visitors. With the help of hundeds of volunteers, Suz and Earthen art sculptor Kiko Denzer created a 3-dimensional man in the maze labyinth out of 1,000 saplings, wattle, cobb and lots of bamboo and mud. Over 12,000 people walked the labyrinth, decorated it with mud sculptures as the festival progressed, and wrote down comments about what their labyrinth experience was like.
Mindful Millennium
Season of Non-Violence Concert and events series