As an accomplished composer and arranger, Susan C. Brown, is a multiple recipient of the ASCAP (American Society of Composers Authors and Publishers) award for her compositions for strings. Her scale method books through Tempo Press, Two Octave Scales and Bowings for the Violin and Two Octave Scales and Bowings for the Viola are standard repertoire in music programs throughout the country and listed with the ASTA (American String Teachers Association) Certificate Program for Strings. The scale series is now complete with the additions of Two Octave Scales and Bowings for Cello, String Bass, and the Score for Strings. Her book String Players? Guide to the Orchestra, is a comprehensive method using orchestral repertoire excerpts, scales and studies for strings. One of Brown?s compositions, The Ghost of John, is featured in the GIA publication, Teaching Music through Performance in Orchestra Book 1. She is also a contributor to the second book by GIA. Brown?s workshops have included orchestral excerpts for strings, American music, and scales and bowing techniques. Recent clinics have been presented at the National ASTA Conference in collaboration with the winner of the National Orchestra Competition, at many colleges, conservatories, and with numerous youth orchestras. As a violinist, violist, and conductor, Susan C. Brown has performed in the San Francisco Bay area, New York, and in Germany. She is presently the director of strings and chamber music at Cabrillo College, Aptos, California and has served as director of chamber ensembles at the University of California at Santa Cruz and the City University of New York.

Susan C. Brown appears as concertmaster and soloist on violin and viola in the following recordings : Lou Harrison?s opera Rapunzel (1997 New Albion ), La Musique De Germaine Tailleferre (1999 Helicon), Moment To Moment, Roy Hargrove with Strings (2000 Verve), Dancing with Henry: New Discoveries in the Music of Henry Cowell (2001 Mode) and Lou Harrison-Works 1939-2000 ( 2003 Mode). While in New York, Brown received her B.M. degree from Ithaca College and an MFA degree from Sarah Lawrence College as a student of Dorothy DeLay. She was a member of the New York Pro Arte and the Philadelphia Composers Forum. Currently she is a member and director of The Picasso Ensemble, Cabrillo Music Festival of Contemporary Music, Ensemble Monterey and music director of The Monterey Jazz Festival Chamber Orchestra.

String Orchestra

All arrangements include a third violin (viola treble clef) part and a rehearsal piano part.

Easy

All parts remain in first position (basses may use some half position). Any extended fingerings are marked and additional courtesy accidentals are provided. The keys of C, G, and D majors are used. All parts are bowed and additional verbal instructions are provided when necessary.

Intermediate

First violin parts require shifts into third position, with possible extensions into fourth. Bass and cello parts may require first through fourth position, often with alternate small-note options for members of section who have not yet learned to shift. Second violin and viola parts remain in first position. Any extended fingerings are marked and additional courtesy accidentals are provided. All parts are bowed and additional verbal instructions are provided when necessary.

Full Orchestra

All arrangements include a third violin (viola treble clef) part and a rehearsal piano part. All full orchestra part include an optional harp part.

Easy

All parts remain in first position (basses may use some half position). Any extended fingerings are marked and additional courtesy accidentals are provided. All parts are bowed and additional verbal instructions are provided when necessary. Wind and brass parts are edited to include courtesy accidentals for most sharps, slide positions and fingerings for less familiar brass notes, alternate or unusual fingerings (R & L) for clarinets and explanations of certain enharmonic notes (D#=E flat).

Intermediate

First violin parts require shifts into third position, with possible extensions into fourth. Bass and cello parts may require first through fourth position, often with alternate small-note options for members of section who have not yet learned to shift. Second violin and viola parts remain in first position. Any extended fingerings are marked and additional courtesy accidentals are provided. All parts are bowed and additional verbal instructions are provided when necessary. Wind and brass parts are edited to include many courtesy accidentals, fingerings and slide positions for less familiar brass notes, alternate or unusual fingerings (R and L) marked for clarinets and explanations of certain enharmonics.

Method and Collections