Suzanne Gillen, flute

Suggested Donation: $10

Suzanne Gillen performs works for flute.

Program:
East Wind, Shulamit Ran
Air for Flute, Toru Takemitsu
Troglodyte, Elliott Lupp
Kokopelli, Katherine Hoover
Pathway (—>), by Jonathan Hannau

Bio:
Suzanne Gillen is an active freelance performer and teacher in the Chicagoland area. She earned both her BM and MM in flute performance from DePaul University, studying with Mary Stolper and Jennifer Clippert. While at DePaul, she not only studied orchestral repertoire and performance practice, but she also worked with various clinicians on chamber music and studied new music with DePaul’s Ensemble 20+. Notable masterclasses she’s participated in on flute and piccolo include: Mary Kay Fink, Keith Underwood, Gary Schocker, and Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble.
Upon completing the first year of her MM, Suzanne took some time away from her studies to make her professional theatre debut as “Lily” in Court Theatre’s production of James Joyce’s THE DEAD; the Chicago Tribune described her as “…especially deft at those dual actor/musician duties,” for that role. After working with the combined genius of Doug Peck and Charles Newell, she returned to DePaul to complete her degree and brought with her a new, unorthodox opinion of performance practice. After convincing some other brilliant and daring musicians to join her, Suzanne and her team performed an arrangement of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf from memory while acting as the characters in the beloved children’s tale. Passionate about the marriage of different performance arts in a production, and is always looking for opportunities to combine instrumental doubling with movement, acting, and singing.
Since graduating, Suzanne has been on stage and in the pit orchestras for various theaters in the Chicago area, most notably in TimeLine Theatre’s production of JUNO, Porchlight Music Theatre’s production of SWEENEY TODD, and returned to Court Theatre as an actor musician for SECRET GARDEN (“Robin”). She also turned her energies toward private flute instruction. Suzanne is an invigorating, demanding, and encouraging flute teacher. Though she strives to make music fun and exciting, she requires diligent practice, focus, and a desire to continue improving from all of her students, regardless of skill level. She can be found teaching at the Music Institute of Chicago, Marian Catholic High School, and in her private studio in Lincoln Park.