Susan Botti-Vazquez

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maybe I didn't pay enough attention in grade school because I thought for sure Susan Botti was destined to be a professional tennis player. In fact, I thought that's all she cared about. Well, it appears that my streak of being wrong about something every day continues. I have learned that Susan Botti is definitely a professional, just not a professional tennis player. 

 

After leaving St. Ann's for Beaumont High School, Susan continued to explore and develop her passion for art and music. That passion lead her to take private classical voice and piano instruction at the Cleveland Institute of Music, and ultimately to interview and audition for enrollment in the highly selective Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, where she was accepted and subsequently received a Bachelor of Music in 1986.

 

With her beautiful soprano voice and new found gift of composing, she put that passion and thirst in high gear, and chose to continue her studies, and further develop her talents.  Susan was selected to, and continued her training, at Manhattan School of Music, where she earned a Master of Music Composition in 1990.

 

Since that time, she has perfected her craft as a composer, performer, and educator, and has been repeatedly recognized for those talents. In layman's terms, Susan has won a ridiculous number of honors, awards, and fellowships, including The National Endowment for the Arts Grant from 1993­-1995, The Young Composer Fellowship with the Cleveland Orchestra from 2003­-2005, The Guggenheim Fellowship in 2005, and the Rome Prize in 2005-­2006.

 

Before Susan had completed graduate school, and as a way to help pay for it, she landed a gig singing a Kodak commercial, one that you will likely remember; it was the "True Colors" jingle (for lack of better term) that played on what seemed like an unending loop during the 1988 Olympics. She also did some professional acting, including a role on the hit TV series Spenser​ For Hire. ​Those weren't the only things she landed while at Manhattan School of Music. She also landed a husband in the form of accomplished Latin-­Jazz drummer and composer Roland Vazquez. Since then, the couple, and their two children Isabel 17, and Hugo 12, have made a few stops along the way.

 

Some of those stops for Susan included commissions both for solo vocal performances, and for her orchestra compositions both of which found their way to many a grand stage. Among others, those stages would include not only our own Severance Hall, but also, Disney Recital Hall in Los Angeles, The National Theater and Concert Hall in Taipei, Avery Fisher Hall and the magnificent Carnegie Hall, both in New York City.

 

Her talents as an instructor were also keen, and she was sought out by the University of Michigan where she became an Associate Professor of Music Composition from 2000­-2006. It was while there that she received her fellowship with the Cleveland Orchestra and made regular commutes to Severance Hall. It was also during that professorship that she won the Rome Prize and spent the 2005­-2006 academic year at the American Academy in Rome where she had an opportunity to focus entirely on her compositions. 

 

Shortly after her return from Rome, a teaching opportunity presented itself and Susan returned to New York in 2007 to become part of the Music Composition faculty at Manhattan School of Music. In addition to that position, in 2012, Susan also became an Adjunct Associate Professor at Vassar College.  

 

It may sound like a life full of hustle and bustle, but since 2007 Susan and her family have lived in the quiet town of Red Hook, New York a hundred miles north of the Big Apple. Susan makes the commute via train to Manhattan School a couple of times a week, and makes the 30 minute drive to Vassar College twice a week as well. In addition to her teaching, Susan still finds time to perform and compose, and spend time with her family. When she watches her son playing his CYO basketball games, she often recalls the days of walking into the gym at St. Ann's and she can't help but think fondly of those memories from 40 years ago.   

 

Next up for Susan are premieres of works she has composed, along with concert performances in Italy. Perhaps the biggest event next year will be helping her daughter select a college to attend, and adjusting to the change of life with her away at school. With all of that still on her plate. I'd nonetheless, venture to guess that Susan still finds a little time to serve and volley. 

 

To learn more about Susan, please visit www.susanbotti.com