Susan Reed is a native of Rhode Island, having grown up along the southern shores in Charlestown. Susan comes from a musical family. Her father George Kent, founder and director of the Chorus of Westerly, was her first musical inspiration, as well as her mother, an avid arts supporter. She began her first violin lessons at the age of twelve with Joe Ceo, then later went on to study at New England Conservatory in Boston.  Susan holds a BM and MM in Violin Performance and Suzuki Pedagogy from Cleveland Institute of Music, in Cleveland OH. Her principal teachers were David Cerone and David Updegraff.

Before launching her solo career, Susan was Director of Suzuki Studies at New England Conservatory of Music. She is well known in New England as the founder and co-director of the Ogontz Suzuki Institute in Lyman, NH - named one of the “Best Family Camps in US” by Parents Magazine.  Susan travels regularly throughout the Americas giving workshops and concerts as a Suzuki clinician.

Complimenting Susan’s classical world, she is also a folk musician, singer and storyteller. Susan is a multi-instrumentalist, playing banjo, dulcimer, mandolin, and guitar. She uses original songs and stories to work magic with families, on local and national stages. Her aim is to inspire a life-long love of music. Common to all of her performances is a trademark sense of humor and optimism, and her conviction that music has the power to broaden people’s understanding of the world around them.

Susan’s latest CD of songs and stories, “Gather” has been awarded a 2008 Parents’ Choice Approved Award as well as a 2008 National Parenting Publications Honors Award (NAPPA.) Her previous CD, “Earth Songs” is a winner of a 2006 Parent’s Choice Recommended Award, and a 2006 NAPPA Honor’s Award. Her CD’s, “Shoes” and “Skipping Round The Moon” were also honored with awards from NAPPA.

Susan has published a book of original dance tunes, called “Baker’s Dozen.” In collaboration with Barefoot Books, she recorded “Playtime Rhymes,” and “If You’re Happy And You Know It.” Her song, “Up, Up, Up” will be coming out as a children’s book with Barefoot Books in September, 2010. Susan also composed and recorded “Ooommm Mmmooo” accompanying a children’s yoga book with Villegas Editores. All of Susan’s recordings and books are available on her website www.susanreed.com.