Susan Bialek

Currently leading the Vassar College Treble Chorus, Music Theory Skills Lab and teaching Introductory Piano, Susan recently served for nine years as Artistic Director of the Children’s Chorus of Maryland School of Music. There she directed three graded choirs of young singers aged seven to eighteen and taught theory and sight reading in the Kodály tradition in CCM’s series of ten levels of musicianship, sight reading and theory for singers. While at CCM Susan also served as guest conductor for festival choirs in Maryland and Pennsylvania and had been invited to lead another in Virginia in the spring of 2020. She has been a participant in choral conducting and choral music education seminars with Henry Leck, Bob Chilcott, Ann Howard Jones and Ed Bolcovac. Susan served as Director of Music at Dutchess Day School in Millbrook NY, where she taught elementary and middle school music and chorus for over two decades, building the choral program from the beginning, which grew to include nearly 90% participation by middle school students who, in Susan’s final year at the school, earned best overall choir in an adjudicated festival.

While teaching in NY State, Susan appeared as a guest conductor for Middle School All County Choruses in Dutchess, Putnam and Westchester Counties and as accompanist for several All County and Area All State choirs. Susan took a semester away from her years at Dutchess Day School to be mentored by Jean Ashworth Bartle, serving as the inaugural intern conductor with the Toronto Children’s Chorus ensembles.

Ms. Bialek has prepared youth choruses to perform with Bard SummerScape Opera, the Annapolis Opera Company, Baltimore Concert Opera, Bach in Baltimore, as well as for collaborations with Poughkeepsie’s Cappella Festiva Chamber Choir, Baltimore Choral Arts Society, The Handel Choir of Baltimore and The Maryland State Boy and Young Men’s Choirs.

Susan sang with Cappella Festiva for ten years and led a Cappella Festiva Treble Choir for middle and high school students for eight years.

While a student at Vassar, Susan studied with Blanca Uribe, Todd Crow, and Huguette van Ackere and chamber music with Luis Garcia Renart. While a graduate student, she studied with Morris Borenstein and Anthony LaMagra, a wonderful teacher of piano teachers. Ms. Bialek did summer course work in piano pedagogy at Westminster Choir College with Phyllis Lehrer, with special focus on the relationship between sight reading and memorization and the art of effective practice.

Ms. Bialek holds degrees from Vassar College and Manhattanville College, and Kodály Certification from The Hartt School of Music.