Composer

Susan J. Clearman’s compositions are fresh, evocative, colorful, rhythmic, lyrical, sometimes mischievous.  She strives to produce works that engage listeners’ imaginations, whatever their background.  She cites influences such as Rachmaninoff, Gershwin, Ravel, Prokofieff, Bernstein, Joplin and international traditional music.

Ms. Clearman has been commissioned to write music for such celebrations as the installation of a new pipe organ, a community choir Christmas concert, an ordination, and a 100th Birthday.  Her works have been performed from New York to Atlanta; from Juneau, Alaska to the British Isles.

Ms. Clearman’s eclectic tastes in classical, ethnic and popular styles are  reflected in her compositions, both vocal and instrumental. Springs in the Desert, for solo organ, features Gregorian chant, Klezmer and Celtic elements. It was commissioned by St. Anne Church of Rochester, New York and premiered by organist Brink Bush. Two other organists later performed the piece in Atlanta during the 1996 Olympics.

 

“Drop Thy Still Dews of Quietness” for unison chorus and piano has been performed in churches from Massachusetts to Georgia to Iona, Scotland and was read at the 2003 national convention of the American Choral Directors Association [NY, NY]. In

2006, Episcopal Divinity School’s [Cambridge, MA] commencement week festivities featured Ms. Clearman’s Temple Slip Jig & Reel for organ and bodhran, Bessarabica for mixed string and wind quartet, and “Breathing Space” for soprano, horn and piano. Her piano piece The Pepperoni Rag, has pleased crowds live in Boston and on radio in Atlanta.

The Longy Chamber Orchestra of Cambridge, MA read her orchestral work-in-progress, The New Incarnation in 2007. Other works include the Cornycopia Rag and the hispanic Nostalgía for piano; the modal O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, for violin and piano; Spirited Away by the Four Winds for woodwind quartet; “He is Gentle and Lowly in Heart” for mixed chorus and organ, “Welcome All Wonders in One Sight” for mixed chorus and piano, and “Prayer of the Living Stones” for mixed chorus, children’s choir and organ. Ms. Clearman has been a member of ASCAP since 1993.