Susan Newman was born into a musical family and wrote and performed original compositions and lyrics at an early age.   As an adult she studied vocal jazz and improv with a number of teachers in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she still resides. In the early 1990s she began singing poetry, either composing melodies or improvising them with pianist Nicole Milner and other members of the group M.O.S.A.I.C.   Her repertoire spans a wide range of poets, including Rumi, Rilke, Neruda, Mary Oliver, Naomi Shihab Nye, Marcia Falk, Patricia Fargnoli, Eliza Shefler and Richard Wright. She sings wisdom from diverse traditions including Taoism, Judaism and Buddhism.

She says:   “I have come to think of improvisation as a spiritual path. In a complex conversation we musicians are creating a unique, ephemeral musical experience that exists only in the moment and cannot be replicated.   This requires me to be fully present to open my ears and my heart to the other musicians and the meaning of the wonderful poems.”

Contact Susan to join her mailing list or to discuss performances or musical collaborations.