We have a special guest for our final week of 2013: Trumpeter/cornetist Susan Rider of Cedar Falls, Iowa, who joined “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band in July 1997.
Master Sergeant Rider began her musical instruction at age 10. Upon graduating in 1985 from Northern University High School in Cedar Falls, she earned a bachelor’s degree in music in 1989 from the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls. She continued her studies at Indiana University in Bloomington, where in 1991 she earned a master’s degree in music and in 2000 earned a doctorate of music in brass pedagogy. Her trumpet instructors were Keith Johnson and Randy Grabowski of the University of Northern Iowa, and Charles Gorham and Edmund Cord of Indiana University.
Prior to joining “The President’s Own,” MSgt Rider performed with the Midland/Odessa Symphony in Texas, the Owensboro Symphony in Kentucky, and the Evansville Philharmonic and Columbus Indiana Philharmonic in Indiana. She also played in the Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra in Charleston, S.C., and was a substitute with the New World Symphony in Miami. In addition to performing, she also taught studio trumpet in Odessa and at Purdue University in Indiana, and was an associate instructor at Indiana University for the brass and music education departments.
MSgt Rider is a frequent soloist with the Marine Band, Marine Chamber Orchestra, and Marine Chamber Ensembles, and has appeared as a Marine Band guest soloist with groups including the Male High School Symphonic Band from Louisville, Ky., in 2001, the Atlanta Youth Wind Symphony in 2005, and at the Midwest Clinic in Chicago. In 2010, she was a Marine Band guest soloist with the Hannaford Street Silver Band and a Monarch Brass ensemble member at the International Women’s Brass Conference in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In addition to her musical duties, MSgt Rider has served as a Tour Coordinator since 2003, advancing and serving as on-site manager during the band’s annual concert tour.
The Marine Band is America’s oldest continuously active professional musical organization. Founded in 1798, the band has performed for every U.S. President since John Adams. Known as “The President’s Own” since the days of Thomas Jefferson, the Marine Band’s primary mission is to provide music for the President of the United States and the Commandant of the Marine Corps.
