Click here to Listen

Colorado College Summer Music Festival 2020

Susan Cahill/Grace Park

Susan performed with 2020 Naumburg competition winner Grace Park in Penderecki’s iconic Duo Concertante at the Colorado College Summer Music Festival. The performance streamed LIVE and was broadcast on KCME. The entire festival can be heard here. (Should you choose to just listen to Susan’s performance, it begins at 35:50).

Sonata for Double Bass and iTunes User Agreement

Susan Cahill/Jon Wilkerson | Festival Mozaic 2018

Jon and I first conceived of the Sonata for Double Bass and iTunes User Agreement in 2015. We had worked together on two other pieces that feature bass and actor, and determined that it was time to create our own piece.

Failing, a Very Difficult Piece for String Bass, by Tom Johnson

Susan Cahill, bass

Failing is notable for including an explanation of itself during its performance. It comes out of that weird time in the ’70s when everyone was writing performance-art music. Think Yoko Ono, with more melody and humor. And since I talk continuously for 11 minutes while playing, I consider myself safer from age-related cognition problems every time I play it.

Blue Light, by Susan Cahill

John Novacek, piano
Susan Cahill, bass

Blue Light I wrote Blue Light for a tour with another singer/songwriter. It has also been performed by the Boulder Acoustic Society.

Duetto by Rossini

David Ying, cello
Susan Cahill, bass

Rossini’s duet for cello and bass, performed at the 2017 Colorado College Summer Music Festival.

Piano Quintet in C Minor, by Vaughn-Williams

John Novacek, piano
Scott Yoo, violin
Jessica Oudin, viola
Jonah Kim, cello
Susan Cahill, bass

Performed July 30, 2017, at the Cuseta College Performing Arts Center, part of the 2017 Festival Mozaic

Piano Quintet in A: ‘Trout’, by Schubert

Noam Elkies, piano
Grace Park, violin
Ben Ullery, viola
Madeleine Kabat, cello
Susan Cahill, bass

The title comes from Schubert’s song The Trout, which is the basis for the theme and variations of the last movement. This video shows a performance at the 2016 Festival Mozaic in San Luis Obisbo, California

4th Street Drag, by John Novacek

John Novacek, piano
Susan Cahill, bass
Scott Higgins, drums

Grammy-award nominee John Novacek has performed with Yo‑Yo Ma and Joshua Bell and has had concerto appearances with ensembles all over the world. He’s a fabulous arranger and composer, as you can hear in this video, and a member of the acclaimed piano trio Intersection.

Body and Soul, by Johnny Green

John Novacek, piano
Susan Cahill, bass

Body and Soul is one of those standards that every jazz lover knows and every jazz student learns. Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald have amazing recordings that would make anyone think twice about trying to create one’s own version. Fortunately, Body and Soul is such a wonderful song that it always sounds great no matter what the treatment.

Canaro en Paris, by Juan Caldarella and Alejandro Scarpino

Extasis Tango Ensemble

I’m the bass player of the Argentinian tango group Extasis, which has performed with orchestras and in clubs on three continents. My colleagues in the group are Claude Sim, violin, Evan Orman, bandoneon, and Michael Tilley, piano. Canaro en Paris is up-tempo, bravura, and notable for its splashy bass part.

A Los Amigos

Grande Orquesta Navarre Tango Ensemble
Diana Cruz and Nick Jones, dancers

These Grande Orquesta Navarre Tango Ensemble videos were filmed in 2011 at the Mercury Café in Denver. A los Amigos is a freeform piece by a mainline Argentinian tango composer and orchestra leader. It has a lot of tempo variations and includes solo passages for each of the instruments. The dancers are showcased in this video.