Biography
Susan Ellinger is a pianist, educator, and arts administrator who serves as associate director of Conservatory Professional Development at Oberlin College and Conservatory. She advises students and alumni on artistic projects, funding opportunities, graduate study, and careers in music. She also co-chairs the Arts Administration and Leadership Integrative Concentration and teaches Music Advocacy and Administration, helping students develop the practical skills and critical judgment to bring their ideas into practice.
As a soloist and chamber musician, Ellinger has performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Caramoor Music Center, Harvard University, and Tanglewood. Her orchestral appearances include performances with the Vermont Symphony Orchestra under Marin Alsop. Her solo album, The Viennese Style (2017), features late sonatas by Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven.
Ellinger’s current artistic projects include Beyond the Poem, a collaboration with flutist Christina Jennings exploring the music of Charles Tomlinson Griffes. As pianist, co-arranger, and co-editor, she is developing eleven transcriptions for flute and piano under contract with Theodore Presser Company, alongside a planned recording. She also collaborates with mezzo-soprano Kira McGirr on Unsung Voices, a program highlighting underperformed music by women and LGBTQ+ composers.
From 2011 to 2020, Ellinger founded and directed the Blue Sage Concert Series and Music Program on Colorado’s Western Slope. She built a program encompassing chamber concerts, community choruses, family performances, and educational partnerships with schools and youth orchestras. Her work included commissioning projects with composer Paula Matthusen and Splinter Reeds, and composer Angel Lam and Hub New Music, with support from organizations including the National Endowment for the Arts, New Music USA, the Aaron Copland Fund for Music, and the Amphion Foundation.
Ellinger holds a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance from Oberlin Conservatory and a Master of Music in Piano Performance from Manhattan School of Music, with additional study at Peabody Conservatory, Tanglewood, and the Taos School of Music.
